The US Department of Health and Human Services will award $590 million to Moderna to continue developing a vaccine to protect against bird flu, the pharmaceutical company announced Friday.

Georgia officials halted all in-state poultry sales, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded $590 million to Moderna to develop vaccines to protect people from flu strains in bird

Moderna has been awarded approximately $590 million from the federal government to help speed up the development of an mRNA-based bird flu vaccine, health officials said.

Moderna receives $590M contract from HHS for mRNA-based bird flu vaccine; up 4% in after-hours trading. Read more here.