Moderna, Inc., a US based biotechnology company pioneering messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics and vaccines, has announced a new supply agreement with Israel for 2022.

Under the terms of this agreement, Israel also retains an option to purchase doses of one of Moderna’s variant-specific vaccine candidates subject to regulatory approval.

The announcement follows two earlier agreements between Israel and Moderna to supply a total of 10 million doses of the COVID-19 Vaccine Moderna. The Israeli Ministry of Health authorized COVID-19 Vaccine Moderna for use on January 4, 2021.

“We appreciate the continued confidence and collaboration with the Israel Ministry of Health with this new agreement,” said Stéphane Bancel, Chief Executive Officer of Moderna. “This is an important moment for our company as the first firm order for 2022 supply and for the supply of our variant-specific booster vaccine candidates against COVID-19, currently being studied in human clinical trials. Recent preclinical results have shown that our variant-specific booster candidates were effective against COVID-19 variants of concerns, and we hope to continue to see positive results from the clinical studies.”