Free Republic

Moderna stock spiked in Wednesday trading, climbing 13.7% over the course of the day amid swelling concerns over the avian influenza outbreak in U.S. cattle...Moderna confirmed to Barron's that the company is in discussions with the federal government about "advancing our pandemic flu candidate." Pfizer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) is refusing to release additional information about an agreement it reached over a COVID-19 vaccine that has earned it at least $400 million.The NIH declined to provide any materials in response to a Freedom of Information Act request from The Epoch Times.“The NIH withholds the entirety of the records as they are protected from release,” Gorka Garcia-Malene, an NIH officer, told The Epoch Times in a letter.She cited an exemption outlined in the act that allows government agencies to partially or fully withhold information.“In this case, exemption 3 incorporates 35 U.S.C. 209 (f),...

After the remarkable success of the mRNA vaccines in protecting people against COVID-19, scientists are turning their attention next to another annual respiratory scourge: influenza. Both Moderna and Pfizer—makers of the first vaccines to earn U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval using the mRNA technology—are studying whether subbing in the influenza virus’ genetic material in that platform will prove equally fruitful. On Sept. 14, Pfizer announced that the first volunteers had received doses of its mRNA flu shot; the Phase 3 study will involve more than 25,000 adults in the U.S. ages 18 and up who will be randomly...