Moderna gets hundreds of millions to develop flu vaccine

Blackstone Life Sciences, a private investment company, is making a big bet on its Cambridge neighbor Moderna, the drug firm that has made multiple versions of a vaccine to fend off COVID-19. Blackstone said Wednesday that it will fund up to $750 million of Moderna’s research to develop a vaccine for the flu in return for royalties and payments if the program reaches certain milestones. “Moderna has demonstrated a remarkable ability to impact human health,” said Nicholas Galakatos, global head of life sciences at Blackstone. “This landmark collaboration is another example of our long-standing strategy to partner with the world’s leading life science companies to advance their critical path vaccines, medicines and medical technologies to patients.” The announcement came the day after Moderna said a new version of its COVID vaccine stimulated a stronger immune response against the virus than its current shot on the market in a late-stage trial. Moderna’s current COVID vaccine, called Spikevax, is its only commercially available product. Moderna, one of the state’s largest biotechs, is trying to diversify its revenue stream after a global plunge in demand for COVID products last year. Moderna uses a technology called messenger RNA, or mRNA, in vaccines. It prompts the body’s cells to make a protein fragment found in a virus, which stimulates a protective immune response. Moderna is working on several vaccines for other contagious diseases, including a combination shot against flu and COVID. It is also developing shots against cytomegalovirus, or CMV, a common infection caused by a type of herpes virus; Epstein-Barr virus; Varicella-Zoster virus; and norovirus. — JONATHAN SALTZMAN