Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has paused a multi-million dollar contract from the Biden administration to develop a new COVID-19 vaccine.
Kennedy issued a 90-day stop-work order on Friday related to the HHS contract with American biotech company Vaxart Inc., which is working to develop a new oral COVID-19 vaccine.
The pause comes as 10,000 individuals were slated to begin clinical trials on Monday.
“While it is crucial that the Department [of] Health and Human Services (HHS) support pandemic preparedness, four years of the Biden administration’s failed oversight have made it necessary to review agreements for vaccine production, including Vaxart’s,” Kennedy told Fox News Digital on Tuesday.
“I look forward to working with Vaxart and medical experts to ensure this work produces safe, effective, and fiscal-minded vaccine technology.”
The trial is only paused — not terminated — and Kennedy and other health officials will examine the study’s initial findings over the next 90 days before making a determination on what comes next.
The contract to create a new COVID vaccine was part of the Biden administration’s $4.7 billion NextGen initiative launched in 2023.
From Fox News:
The Vaxart vaccine was specifically funded through an agreement with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), which is a department within the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response under the HHS umbrella.
BARDA obligated roughly $460 million to Vaxart’s development of the new vaccine, with a total of $240 million already authorized for the preliminary study, Fox Digital learned.
A recent modification to the contract would have allowed Vaxart to invoice BARDA for the remaining roughly $230 million for clinical trials, but the stop-work order prevents the biotech company from invoicing BARDA until further notice. Vaxart, however, can still invoice HHS related to medical monitoring of individuals who took part in an initial round of trials, Fox Digital learned.
The move comes just two weeks after RFK Jr. was sworn in as HHS Secretary and President Trump signed an order establishing the Make America Healthy Again Commission, which is led by Kennedy to tackle “the root causes of America’s escalating health crisis.”
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