US Devotes $1.4 Billion to Developing Next-Gen COVID-19 Vaccines

A group of clinical research institutions and two pharmaceutical giants, Johnson & Johnson and Regeneron, have been granted more than $1.4 billion to develop new COVID-19 vaccines and treatments. 

The funding comes from the Biden administration's $5 billion Project NextGen initiative, which is intended to develop longer-lasting vaccines and treatments and to streamline manufacturing processes.  

“As the virus continues to evolve, we need new tools that keep pace with those changes,” Dawn O’Connell, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, said in a statement Tuesday.

Since the pandemic unfolded in early 2020, drug companies and policymakers have raced to combat the latest mutations of COVID-19. To date, more than 1.1 million Americans have died from the virus.

The bulk of the award, $1 billion, goes to four partners of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, or BARDA, an agency inside HHS. Vaccine clinical trials by the partners are expected to begin this winter. 

Pharmaceutical company Regeneron was granted $326 million to work with BARDA to develop and manufacture a monoclonal antibody for people who can’t take or don’t respond to current vaccines. Clinical trials are expected to begin this fall. 

“Although COVID-19 has moved to an endemic stage, many people — including those with immunocompromising conditions — continue to face exposure that impacts their everyday life and could cause serious health consequences,” Regeneron Chief Executive Officer Leonard S. Schleifer in a separate statement.

Johnson & Johnson received $10 million to fund a research effort with BARDA that focuses on promising startups, and the company has already announced the 10 startups it will finance to develop new vaccines and treatments. Clinical trials are expected to begin this winter. 

New hospitalizations for COVID-19 have become more frequent in the past month or so, rising nearly 22% to 12,613 in the most recent weekly count from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (At the height of the pandemic, weekly counts reached well over 100,000.)

A new variant of the virus, called EG.5 or Eris, accounts for an estimated 18-24% of all new cases in the U.S. Pharmaceutical giants Moderna, Novavax and Pfizer are expected to roll out updated vaccines this fall, and early clinical trial data from Moderna showed some protection from Eris.