Moderna has entered an agreement with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, with regard to the delivery of Covid-19 vaccines to lower-income countries supported by the Gavi COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC).
According to the deal, the parties will cancel pending orders under the existing Covid-19 vaccine supply agreement for this year.
Additionally, Moderna and Gavi will create a new approach aiding lower-income countries to gain access to updated variant-specific Covid-19 vaccine doses starting next year.
This framework will facilitate Gavi to procure up to 100 million vaccine doses on behalf of the COVAX Facility.
All the vaccine doses are provided at the lowest-tiered rate offered by Moderna.
Gavi CEO Dr Seth Berkley said: “This agreement with Moderna represents a critical step for equitable access, helping COVAX adjust its portfolio to current demand and ensuring lower-income countries have access to variant-containing vaccines to use where appropriate.”
Under the initial agreement, nearly 70 million vaccine doses were delivered to the 92 Gavi COVAX AMC low- and middle-income countries.
In addition to these, the company has donated over 100 million doses to these nations.
In the past two years, COVAX delivered 1.8 billion doses of Covid-19 shots to 146 countries globally. This comprises nearly 186 million Moderna vaccine doses under the advance purchase agreement with the company, as well as donations.
Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said: “Gavi and our COVAX partners have been pivotal in ensuring the global supply of Covid-19 vaccines, leading the largest and most rapid vaccine rollout in history.
“We are proud of our role in this endeavour and will continue to support COVAX’s mission to ensure broad, affordable, and equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines across low and middle-income countries as we move towards a world where Covid-19 is endemic.”
In August, the company sought emergency use authorization (EUA) from the US Food and Drug Administration for mRNA-1273.222, its BA.4/BA.5 Omicron-targeting bivalent booster vaccine for Covid-19.
Cell & Gene Therapy coverage on Pharmaceutical Technology is supported by Cytiva.
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