What happened
Shares of Moderna (MRNA 0.89%) were trading about 4% higher as of 3:50 p.m. EST on Monday. The gains came after the biotech announced that the Canadian government had increased its order of COVID-19 vaccine candidate mRNA-1273 by 20 million doses.
So what
Moderna's supply agreement with Canada now totals 40 million doses. The company also has significant deals to supply mRNA-1273 to the U.S., the U.K., Japan, and the European Union, as well as smaller-volume agreements with Israel and Qatar.
Image source: Getty Images.
Financial details of the Canadian deal weren't announced. However, Moderna has previously stated that it planned to price its COVID-19 vaccine at between $32 and $37 per dose. At the low end of that range, the company stands to make nearly $1.3 billion from supplying mRNA-1273 to the Canadian government.
Interest in Moderna's coronavirus vaccine candidate has heated up since the company announced interim results from its phase 3 clinical trial of mRNA-1273 in November. It demonstrated an efficacy of a little over 94%, surpassing initial expectations.
Now what
Moderna's supply agreement with Canada hinges on that country's medical regulator approving mRNA-1273. The company has already begun a rolling regulatory submission with Health Canada and hopes to win approval later this month.
An even bigger catalyst for the biotech stock could also come in December. An advisory committee to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is scheduled to review Moderna's filing for an emergency use authorization for mRNA-1273 on Dec. 17.
