Moderna Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) saw its shares rocket Monday, on news that the Government of Canada has exercised its option to purchase an additional 4.5 million doses of an Omicron-containing bivalent vaccine booster candidate from the Company, in addition to moving forward the scheduled delivery of 1.5 million doses of the bivalent vaccine candidate from 2023 to 2022.
Moderna and the Government of Canada have also agreed to convert six million doses of the Company's COVID-19 vaccine (Spikevax, mRNA-1273) to an Omicron-containing bivalent vaccine. The agreement is subject to regulatory approval of the Omicron-containing bivalent vaccine booster candidate by Health Canada, with doses scheduled for delivery in 2022.
"We thank the Government of Canada for their trust in our mRNA technology and our next-generation bivalent COVID-19 vaccine platform," said CEO Stéphane Bancel, Moderna's Chief Executive Officer. "As we have seen throughout this pandemic, the Government of Canada continues to take important steps in preparing for the winter season and protecting its people against Omicron."
In over 10 years since its inception, Moderna has transformed from a science research-stage company advancing programs in the field of messenger RNA (mRNA), to an enterprise with a diverse clinical portfolio of vaccines and therapeutics across seven modalities, a broad intellectual property portfolio in areas including mRNA and lipid nanoparticle formulation, and an integrated manufacturing plant that allows for rapid clinical and commercial production at scale.
MRNA shares jumped $1.50, or 1%, to $147.60.
