Moderna Soars After $483 Million Covid-19 Agreement With U.S.

Moderna Inc. shares rose as much as 21% after the company said the U.S. government has agreed to pay as much as $483 million for the company to develop and test its Covid-19 vaccine now in an initial clinical trial.

Under the agreement, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, would fund development of the vaccine mRNA-1273 up through approval by the U.S. regulators, as well as efforts to scale up manufacturing, Moderna said in a press release.

Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine is one of the first to begin human trials. ...