The big-time BARDA contracts keep rolling in, this time for infectious disease biotech and Merck partner ModeX Therapeutics.

BARDA的重要合同不断涌现，这一次是针对传染病生物技术公司和默克合作伙伴ModeX Therapeutics。

The company has hauled in a $168 million contract from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA)—a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services division—to develop antibody therapies for viral infections, namely COVID-19. The funding announced Thursday includes $59 million upfront with an additional $109 million contingent on reaching developmental milestones for diseases outside of COVID..

该公司已从美国卫生与公众服务部生物医学高级研究与发展局（BARDA）获得1.68亿美元的合同，以开发针对病毒感染的抗体疗法，即新型冠状病毒（COVID-19）。周四宣布的资金包括5900万美元的预付款，另外还有1.09亿美元，这取决于能否达到新型冠状病毒以外疾病的发展里程碑。。

The initial upfront cash is expected to help pay for a phase 1 trial to test a novel “multispecific antibody” that could neutralize a range of COVID-19 variants, acting as both a treatment and preventative therapy.

最初的预付现金预计将有助于支付第一阶段试验的费用，以测试一种新型“多特异性抗体”，该抗体可以中和一系列COVID-19变体，既可以作为治疗又可以作为预防性治疗。

ModeX’s selling point is its MSTAR platform, touted as being able to “incorporate four to six independent antibody binding sites into a single molecule.” Many of the therapeutic antibodies that the FDA authorized over the course of the pandemic were ultimately hampered by mutations to the virus’ binding sites, impacting their efficacy.

ModeX的卖点是其MSTAR平台，被吹捧为能够“将四到六个独立的抗体结合位点整合到一个分子中”。FDA在大流行过程中授权的许多治疗性抗体最终受到病毒结合位点突变的阻碍，影响了它们的功效。

The milestone payments will be associated with development work on other viruses, including influenza..

里程碑付款将与其他病毒（包括流感）的开发工作相关。。

ModeX says that it will work on gene-based delivery methods using mRNA or DNA to further utilize “the body’s natural protein production processes.”

ModeX表示，它将利用mRNA或DNA研究基于基因的传递方法，以进一步利用“人体的天然蛋白质生产过程”

RELATEDSanofi culls early infectious disease, blood disorder asset as it ramps up phase 3 for also-ran COVID vax

相关的赛诺菲（Sanofi）淘汰了早期传染病，血液疾病资产，因为它也为新冠肺炎（COVID vax）升级了第三阶段

The nine-digit government contract follows a deal with Merck in March, with the two linking up to work on a vaccine for Epstein Barr virus. The New Jersey pharma handed over $50 million in upfront cash with more than $850 million in biobucks available to have exclusive rights to ModeX’s preclinical candidate, MDX-2201.

这份9位数的政府合同是在3月份与默克公司达成协议之后签订的，双方将合作开发爱泼斯坦-巴尔病毒疫苗。这家新泽西制药公司提供了5000万美元的预付现金，以及超过8.5亿美元的biobucks，以获得ModeX临床前候选药物MDX-2201的专有权。

Moderna and the National Institutes of Health each have similar assets in development..

Moderna和National Institutes of Health各自拥有类似的发展资产。。

The new funding spawns from BARDA’s Project NextGen initiative, aiming to develop a new class of vaccines and therapeutics against COVID-19 and the technologies that make them. Vaccine developer Gritstone Bio was awarded $433 million earlier this week to help fund a phase 2b trial for a next-generation COVID-19 vaccine..

新的资金来源于BARDA的NextGen项目倡议，旨在开发一类新的针对新型冠状病毒的疫苗和治疗方法以及制造它们的技术。本周早些时候，疫苗开发商Gritstone Bio获得4.33亿美元的奖金，用于资助下一代新型冠状病毒肺炎疫苗的2b期试验。。

The BARDA contract also serves as validation for OPKO Health, which acquired ModeX in May 2022. The overall value of the BARDA contract is more than half the $300 million OPKO paid to acquire the biotech.

BARDA合同也作为OPKO Health的验证，OPKO Health于2022年5月收购了ModeX。BARDA合同的总价值是OPKO为收购该生物技术公司而支付的3亿美元的一半以上。