UN program inks Moderna deal on 500M doses, starting in Q4

GENEVA (AP) — Moderna and vaccine promoter Gavi have announced a deal by which the pharmaceutical company will provide up to 500 million doses for the U.N.-backed program to ship coronavirus vaccines to needy people in low- and middle-income countries by the end of 2022.

The advance purchase agreement announced Monday comes just days after the World Health Organization, after weeks of delays, announced emergency approval for the Moderna vaccine that will pave the way for its rollout in the U.N.-backed COVAX program.

However, deliveries are not set to begin until the fourth quarter of this year, and the vast majority of the doses in the deal — 466 million — are planned for next year. The remaining 34 million are expected this year.

Stephane Bancel, the Moderna CEO, expressed support for the COVAX mission and called the deal “an important milestone” to ensure access to its vaccine worldwide.

“We recognize that many countries have limited resources to access COVID-19 vaccines," Bancel said in a statement. "We remain committed to doing everything that we can to ending this ongoing pandemic with our mRNA COVID-19 vaccine.”

The company said the doses were offered “at Moderna’s lowest tiered price, in line with the company’s global access commitments,” without specifying. Gavi didn't provide financial terms, but has said the per-dose prices of vaccines for COVAX will eventually be made public.

Many experts say the COVID-19 crisis is acute now, with India in particular facing an unprecedented surge in cases. The Moderna vaccine has generally been considered among the most effective so far in combating new variants, like the one that is spreading in India.

Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, which is a public-private partnership, hailed the access to “yet another efficacious...