Moderna Says Swiss Govt. To Buy Addl 7 Mln Doses Of Booster Vaccine In 2022

Covid-19 vaccine maker Moderna, Inc. said the Swiss Federal Government decided to buy an additional seven million doses of its Covid-19 booster vaccine, to be delivered in the second half of 2022.

These doses are in addition to the initial seven million doses for delivery in 2022. Switzerland’s order commitment now totals 27.5 million doses.

The biotechnology company focused on messenger RNA or mRNA therapeutics and vaccines noted that Swissmedic has granted approval for Spikevax (elasomeran mRNA vaccine), which is indicated for active immunization to prevent COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2 in individuals 12 years of age and older.

Moderna last week had said it would continue to develop an Omicron-specific variant vaccine that it expects to advance into clinical trials in early 2022.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or CDC recently recommended that people take the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna instead of Johnson & Johnson’s single-shot COVID-19 vaccine due to a rare blood clotting disorder.

Moderna’s Spikevax, an mRNA vaccine to prevent COVID-19, is currently authorized for emergency use as a two-dose primary series, as well as a single booster dose. The vaccine is yet to get full FDA approval. The FDA is reviewing the Biologics License Application for Spikevax and a decision is expected in April 2022. Spikevax brought in sales of $10.7 billion for the nine months ended Sep.30, 2021. Sales of the vaccine are expected to be in the range of $15 billion and $18 billion for full year 2021.

In early December, Moderna amended its then contract with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, to accelerate supply of 20 million doses to COVAX by December 31, 2021. In two agreements, Gavi will purchase up to 650 million doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for delivery through 2022.

Moderna also revised supply agreement with the UK government recently for up to 60 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine, with up to 29 million doses expected to be delivered in 2022 and up to 31 million doses expected to be delivered in 2023. The UK government also retains a right to increase or decrease its purchases in 2022 and 2023.

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