Biotechnology company Moderna Inc (Nasdaq: MRNA), a provider of RNA (mRNA) therapeutics and vaccines, announced on Monday that it has amended a supply agreement with the UK government for an additional two million doses of mRNA-1273, its vaccine candidate against COVID-19, beginning in March 2021.

The UK government has now secured seven million doses of mRNA-1273 and is continuing efforts to secure access to safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines by establishing a broad portfolio of the most promising vaccines.

Stéphane Bancel, chief executive officer of Moderna, stated: "We appreciate the collaboration with the UK government as with many other governments and other key partners around the world."

Bancel added: "For almost a decade, Moderna has invested in creating and developing a novel platform for designing and manufacturing a new class of mRNA-based vaccines. We are proud of the progress on mRNA-1273 we have made to date including the positive interim analysis from our Phase 3 COVE study."

Moderna also said that it continues to scale up its global manufacturing to be able to deliver approximately 500 million doses per year and possibly up to one billion doses per year, beginning in 2021. The company is working with its strategic manufacturing partners, Lonza of Switzerland and ROVI of Spain, for manufacturing and fill-finish outside of the US. This is a dedicated supply chain to support Europe and countries other than the US that enter into purchase agreements with Moderna.