Trump administration yanks Moderna’s bird flu vaccine research funding even as company reports promising test results

The Trump administration has canceled $766 million awarded to drugmaker Moderna Inc. to develop a vaccine against potential pandemic influenza viruses, including the H5N1 bird flu.

The company said it was notified Wednesday that the Health and Human Services Department had withdrawn funds awarded in July 2024 and in January to pay for development and purchase of its investigational vaccine.

The funds were awarded through the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, or BARDA, a program that focuses on medical treatments for potential pandemics.

The new vaccine, called mRNA-1018, used the same technology that allowed development and rollout of vaccines to fight COVID-19 in record time.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has expressed deep skepticism regarding mRNA vaccines, despite real-world evidence that the vaccines are safe and saved millions of lives.

The cancelation came as Moderna announced positive interim results from an early-stage trial of the vaccine that targeted H5 bird flu virus, tested in 300 healthy adults.

“While the termination of funding from HHS adds uncertainty, we are pleased by the robust immune response and safety profile observed in this interim analysis,” CEO Stephane Bancel said in a statement.

He added that Moderna would “explore alternatives” for funding the development and manufacturing of the vaccine, according to French news agency AFP.

“These clinical data in pandemic influenza underscore the critical role mRNA technology has played as a countermeasure to emerging health threats,” AFP cited Bancel as saying.

In a statement in March, Moderna told CBS News medical contributor and editor-at-large for public health at KFF Health News Dr. Céline Gounder that, “Researchers have been exploring mRNA’s potential in medicine for over 30 years, leading to the rapid deployment of mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines that transformed the course of the pandemic. With more than a billion doses distributed worldwide and an unprecedented amount of real-world safety and efficacy data, the benefits of mRNA vaccination … are well established.”

Dr. Ashish Jha, a public health expert who served as former President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 response coordinator, remarked about the funding withdrawal on X, saying, “This move puts the lives of Americans at risk. The attack on mRNA vaccines is beyond absurd. It was President Trump’s Operation Warp Speed that gave us mRNA vaccines. …  If Bird Flu starts spreading from people to people, we will come to regret this as the day we decided to put the lives of the American people at grave risk. ” 

H5N1 bird flu viruses spilled from wild bird into cattle in the U.S. last year, infecting hundreds of animals in several states. At least 70 people in the U.S. have been sickened by bird flu infections, mostly mild. One person died.

Scientists fear that continued mutation of the virus could enable it to become more virulent or more easily spread in people, with the possibility that it could trigger a pandemic.

Moderna received $176 million in July 2024 and $590 million in January. The January award would have supported a late-stage clinical trial that could have determined the vaccine’s efficacy against pandemic viruses, including bird flu, a company spokesman said.