Gavi, Moderna sign deal on variant-adapted COVID shots for low-income countries

SWITZERLAND — Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance has signed an agreement with Moderna related to the supply of Covid-19 vaccines to lower-income countries supported by the Gavi COVAX Advance Market Commitment.

Gavi, and the biotech company will cancel their existing supply deal for vaccines based on the original coronavirus strain.

Instead, Moderna Inc. will provide up to 100 million doses of Covid-19 shots that specifically target variants for vaccine alliance Gavi to distribute in low-income countries in 2023.

Moderna will supply these mRNA variant-targeting shots to Gavi at the lowest of its tiered prices under the terms of the agreement.

The vaccines will then be distributed to poor countries via the Covax facility, which is supported by the World Health Organization to ensure vaccine equity around the world, according to Gavi.

GAVI, in collaboration with the World Health Organization and other global organizations, leads the COVAX initiative. 146 countries have received 1.79 billion doses of COVID vaccine through the scheme, including nearly 186 million doses of Moderna’s original shot.

While the initiative initially struggled for shots as wealthy countries snatched up limited supply, it now has a surplus of the original vaccines, prompting negotiations to try to better align supply with demand.

An ongoing Phase 2-3 clinical trial found that Moderna’s bivalent COVID-19 vaccine containing the Omicron variant elicited superior neutralizing antibody responses against the Omicron variant than the original vaccine.

The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, assessed the safety, reactogenicity, and immunogenicity of the bivalent vaccine, which contains 25 micrograms of messenger RNAs from the SARS-CoV-2 variants Wuhan-Hu-1 and Omicron B.1.1.529.

Many wealthier countries have started using the bivalent vaccine in booster campaigns.

The FDA has approved bivalent mRNA COVID-19 vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech for children as young as 6 and 5, respectively.

GAVI chief executive Seth Berkley said the new agreement was a “critical step for equitable access” to allow lower-income countries to use the modified vaccines as they see fit.

While the initiative initially struggled for shots as wealthy countries snatched up limited supply, it now has a surplus of the original vaccines, prompting negotiations to try to better align supply with demand.

Moderna’s bivalent COVID vaccine, which contains both the original coronavirus strain and the BA.1 Omicron variant, has received regulatory approval worldwide.

Negotiations with other vaccine manufacturers to adjust supply agreements are going on, GAVI said.

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