16 February 2021 - - The Canadian government has increased its confirmed order commitment by 4m doses of the COVID-19 Vaccine Moderna bringing its confirmed order commitment to 44 m doses, US-based biotechnology company Moderna, Inc., (NASDAQ: MRNA) said.

This increase reflects continued efforts by the Canadian government to secure access to safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines for Canadian citizens.

On December 23, Health Canada authorized the COVID-19 Vaccine Moderna for the immunization of people 18 years of age and older under an Interim Order.

Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine (mRNA-1273 SARS-CoV-2 vaccine) is indicated for active immunization against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus in individuals 18 years of age and older.

Moderna is advancing messenger RNA science to create a new class of transformative medicines for patients.

mRNA medicines are designed to direct the body's cells to produce intracellular, membrane or secreted proteins that can have a therapeutic or preventive benefit and have the potential to address a broad spectrum of diseases.

The company's platform builds on continuous advances in basic and applied mRNA science, delivery technology and manufacturing, providing Moderna the capability to pursue in parallel a robust pipeline of new development candidates.

Moderna is developing therapeutics and vaccines for infectious diseases, immuno-oncology, rare diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, independently and with strategic collaborators.

Headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., Moderna currently has strategic alliances for development programs with AstraZeneca plc (OTC: AZNCF) and US-based Merck and Co., Inc. (NYSE: MRK), as well as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), an agency of the US Department of Defense, and Barda.

Moderna has been named a top biopharmaceutical employer by Science for the past six years.