The White House has narrowed down the pool of the most promising vaccine projects and is now focusing on five companies, according to The New York Times.
The five companies being prioritized are Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Pfizer and AstraZeneca in partnership with Oxford University. Vaccine candidates from two of these companies, Moderna and AstraZeneca, are already being tested in human subjects.
The companies will receive additional federal funding, assistance with conducting trials and manufacturing support. The federal government has prioritized these companies' efforts in hopes its investment will expedite the process of vaccine finalization and mass production.
The HHS signed a $658 million contract June 1 with Rockville, Md.-based Emergent BioSolutions to ramp up vaccine manufacturing capacity. White House officials told The New York Times that more funding will be announced soon.