Key Takeaways
- Moderna announced Wednesday that it had received up to $750 million from Blackstone Life Sciences to advance its flu program.
- The biotech company also said three other experimental vaccines would be moving to Phase 3 trials.
- The news about these four vaccine projects follows Tuesday’s report of a successful trial of Moderna’s new COVID-19 shot.
Moderna Inc. (MRNA) shares advanced Wednesday as the biotech firm used its “Vaccines Day” event to make key announcements about new funding and the results of several vaccine trials.
The drug maker said it recently entered into a development and commercialization funding agreement with Blackstone Life Sciences (BX) in which Blackstone will provide up to $750 million to advance Moderna’s program to create a flu vaccine. It added that Blackstone’s return would be “based on cumulative commercial milestones and low-single digit royalties.”
Nicholas Galakatos, global head of Blackstone Life Sciences, said the collaboration “is another example of our long-standing strategy to partner with the world’s leading life science companies to advance their critical path vaccines, medicines, and medical technologies to patients.”
Moderna also reported positive clinical data from three new vaccines to fight Epstein-Barr virus, Varicella-Zoster virus, and norovirus, and they will be advanced toward Phase 3 trials. Tuesday, the company said a Phase 3 study of its latest COVID-19 shot also met its primary endpoints and posted a better immune response to both the original and Omicron variants than its current Spikevax vaccine.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Stephane Bancel said that Moderna now has five vaccines in Phase 3 trials and three more moving toward them, giving the company “a very large and diverse portfolio addressing significant unmet medical needs.”
Moderna shares were up 1.8% to $109.38 as of 1:19 p.m. ET Wednesday but down about 2.8% so far in 2024.