![]() Given the pandemic, Love says he thinks the government should have included an exceptional-circumstances authority to this part of the Moderna contract, which could potentially allow the U.S. Shots - Health News Call For Administration's COVID-19 Vaccine Contracts To Be Disclosed "In the case of COVID-19, that's not an ideal situation," Love says. Of the Operation Warp Speed contracts that have been made public, not all of them include this safeguard.īut the process under these so-called Bayh-Dole protections is often lengthy, requiring a series of administrative and court proceedings and an appeal process. ![]() That clause is a relief, says James Love, director of Knowledge Ecology International. It allows the government to "march in" and take control of a drug or vaccine if a manufacturer that received federal financial support engages in price gouging, for example. ![]() The newly released Moderna contract does reveal a clause that is standard in drug development that receives funding from the federal government. But the speed bonus is one of many things that has been redacted from the contract that HHS released. Moderna will get an extra $300 million if it receives approval or an emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration "on or before January 31, 2021," according to a company disclosure about this contract. The value of the contract, for example, is blacked out with a note that it isn't disclosable under public records law because it is a trade secret. Some of the redactions obscure information that has already been disclosed. It's 53 pages long, but only 14 of them are free of redactions. While the publicly posted Moderna contract includes previously unknown details, extensive redactions leave the public in the dark about some of the company's obligations as well as the extent of protections for taxpayers. Most of the contracts haven't been released. Overall, there is a lack of disclosure around the terms of the federal contracts with companies involved in the crash program to make COVID-19 vaccines. When announcing the deal, HHS said it was worth $1.5 billion and would secure the first 100 million doses of the company's vaccine and the option to buy up to 400 million more. A heavily redacted supply contract between the federal government and vaccine developer Moderna, headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., was released Friday.Įven as the companies enlisted by the government's Operation Warp Speed project to develop COVID-19 vaccines say they're making quick progress, details of their lucrative federal contracts have been slow to emerge.īut late Friday, the Department of Health and Human Services released its August contract with Moderna.
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