Takeda Refunds Japan Rights to Moderna's COVID-19 Vaccine Spikevax

On May 31, Takeda announced that, effective August 1, 2022, the company will return to Moderna the commercialization rights of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine Spikevax (mRNA-1273) in Japan.

After that, Moderna will be responsible for all Spikevax activities, including importation, local regulation, development, quality assurance and commercialization. Takeda will continue to provide distribution support during the transition period of the current Moderna COVID-19 vaccine campaign nationwide. Both companies will be responsible for ensuring that work related to this transfer of interests is properly implemented.

Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine, Spikevax, has received special use authorization from Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. For the prevention of COVID-19 infection caused by SARS-CoV-2.

In addition, Takeda also owns the rights in Japan of the new crown vaccine NVX-CoV2373 developed by Novavax. The recombinant protein new crown vaccine has also been approved for marketing in Japan for the primary and booster immunizations of people aged 18 and over.