FDA clears Moderna to add more vaccine formula to vials

The Food and Drug Administration on Friday agreed to allow pharmaceutical maker Moderna to increase the formulation of the coronavirus vaccine in each of its vials by up to 40%, according to the New York Times.

Sources told The Times that the move could allow the company to include up to 14 doses in each vial of vaccine instead of the current 10 doses, which would increase the country’s total vaccine supply by about 20. %.

“It would be a big step forward,” Dr. Moncef Slaoui, the chief scientist of the Trump administration’s program to develop a vaccine, told The Times. “ I think it will have an impact in the short term. ”

A company spokesperson declined to comment on its discussions with regulators to the newspaper.

Earlier this week, the Biden administration announced an agreement to purchase an additional 100 million doses of the Moderna vaccine, which has provided 41 million doses to the government so far.

“We appreciate the confidence the US government has shown in our COVID-19 vaccine,” Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said in a press release. “We continue to increase our manufacturing capacity, both inside and outside the United States. Our goal is to bring our vaccine to as many people as possible around the world to help end this pandemic. It is encouraging and humbling to know that more than 22 million Americans have already been protected with Moderna’s vaccine. ”