Moderna gets $750m from Blackstone for flu vaccine

Moderna, backed by Blackstone’s Life Sciences division, is diversifying its portfolio of products based on mRNA technology.Investment fund to inject $750 million into U.S. pharmaceutical companies For delivering on its promise to use the same technology used in Covid-19 vaccines for flu treatments.

The new vaccine will be sold under the brand name Spikevax; Moderna plans to invest nearly $4.5 billion in 2024

in research and development (R&D). This is one of the steps the pharmaceutical company is taking to contain the impact of declining sales of its coronavirus treatment products.

In exchange for your investment, Blackstone will receive commercial milestone payments and single-digit royalties. Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel recalled in a statement that the development of new vaccines “requires significant investment in long-term research,” which is why he welcomed the fund. private property rights and its “innovative financing model.”

Moderna shares rose 2% following the announcement

So far, Moderna’s vaccine has elicited stronger immune responses against influenza A and B viruses than traditional treatments, according to data released in September.

The pharmaceutical company estimates the market for flu treatments to be worth about $7 billion this year and believes that number will increase as new products become available. To this end, Moderna plans to initiate relevant procedures with regulatory agencies in 2024. The announcement pushed the company’s share price higher pharmacy 2% before market opening.

Moderna is also working on a treatment for respiratory syncytial virus, which it plans to launch in the United States this year; it is working with German pharmaceutical company Merck to develop a second-generation vaccine against Covid-19 and another vaccine against cancer.