Grants

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2020

Revenue from Contract with Customer [Abstract]

Grants

Grants

Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA)

In September 2016, we received an award of up to $125.8 million under Agreement No. HHSO100201600029C from BARDA, a component of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, or ASPR within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, or HHS, to help fund our Zika vaccine program. Under the terms of the agreement with BARDA, an initial base award of $8.2 million supported toxicology studies, a Phase 1 clinical trial, and associated manufacturing activities. Contract options were available, for $117.6 million to support an additional Phase 1 study of an improved Zika vaccine candidate, Phase 2 and Phase 3 clinical studies, as well as large-scale manufacturing for the Zika vaccine.

As of March 31, 2020, three of the four contract options had been exercised resulting in $117.3 million of available funding with an additional $8.4 million available if the final contract option is exercised. For the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019, we recognized revenue of $2.8 million and $1.5 million, respectively, relating to the BARDA agreement.

On April 16, 2020, we entered into a new agreement with BARDA (see Note 13).

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (Gates Foundation)

In January 2016, we entered a global health project framework agreement with the Gates Foundation to advance mRNA-based development projects for various infectious diseases. The Gates Foundation has committed up to $20.0 million in grant funding to support our initial project related to the evaluation of antibody combinations in a preclinical setting as well as the conduct of a first-in-human Phase 1 clinical trial of a potential mRNA medicine to help prevent human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, infections. Follow-on projects which could bring total potential funding under the framework agreement up to $100.0 million (including the HIV antibody project) to support the development of additional mRNA-based projects for various infectious diseases can be proposed and approved until the sixth anniversary of the framework agreement, subject to the terms of the framework agreement, including our obligation to grant to the Gates Foundation certain non-exclusive licenses. In March 2019, the Gates Foundation provided an additional funding commitment up to $1.1 million to support a follow-on project.

As of March 31, 2020, up to $21.1 million has been committed for funding with up to an additional $80.0 million available, if additional follow-on projects are approved. We recognized revenue of $0.3 million relating to the Gates Foundation agreement for both of the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019. We had deferred revenue of $1.2 million and $1.5 million as of March 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019, respectively, related to the Gates Foundation agreement.

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)

In October 2013, DARPA awarded us up to $24.6 million under Agreement No. W911NF-13-1-0417, which was subsequently adjusted to $19.7 million, to research and develop potential mRNA medicines as a part of DARPA’s Autonomous Diagnostics to Enable Prevention and Therapeutics, or ADEPT, program, which is focused on assisting with the development of technologies to rapidly identify and respond to threats posed by natural and engineered diseases and toxins. The DARPA awards have been deployed primarily in support of our vaccine and antibody programs to protect against chikungunya infection.

As of March 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019, $19.7 million has been committed by DARPA. There was no revenue recognized for the three months ended March 31, 2020 or 2019, related to the DARPA agreement.