By 2030, Moderna Plans On Offering Vaccines Against Cancer, Heart Disease, And Other Conditions

In an interview with Trade Algo, a spokesperson from the company said they aim to develop a new set of vaccines within the next few years that could save lives against cancer, heart disease, and other diseases. 

‍

Dr. Paul Burton, Moderna's chief medical officer, also confirmed the comments made by the company's chief medical officer in an article in the Guardian on Saturday. Burton said he felt confident that the vaccines would be ready by the end of the decade, adding that Moderna may be able to offer them within five years. 

‍

In his remarks, he indicated that advances in messenger RNA technology, however, have been ushered in for a new era of injections in recent years as a result of the Covid pandemic's advancement in technology. 

‍

In the past few months, what Burton has said is that if you ever thought that mRNA could only be used for infectious diseases, or only for Covid, you are absolutely wrong. Burton told the Guardian that the evidence shows this is absolutely not the case. We are dealing with cancer, infectious diseases, cardiovascular diseases, autoimmune diseases, and rare diseases, but it can be used for a variety of diseases. 

‍

In addition, there is a tremendous amount of promise in studies looking at shots to prevent those diseases, according to the expert. 

‍

The remarks Burton made come at a time when Moderna is going through a boom after the pandemic due to the mRNA Covid vaccine. Known for its messenger RNA technology that teaches human cells to produce a protein that triggers an immune response against a particular disease, this Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company became a household name in the world. 

‍

Besides Burton's remarks, this year's annual Moderna Vaccine Day is taking place on Tuesday, and at this event the company showcases its latest vaccine developments as well as share any announcements it has made.

‍

According to Burton, the personalized cancer vaccine being developed by Moderna would be highly effective, and will be able to prevent a significant number of cancer cases. The vaccine, he said, would be able to save hundreds of thousands and maybe even millions of lives every year. 

‍

Moderna's personalized cancer vaccine with Merck's immunotherapy drug Keytruda was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in February as a Breakthrough Therapy Designation for patients with melanoma skin cancer, a potentially fatal form of cancer. It is intended to speed up the development and review of drugs that are intended to treat serious or life-threatening conditions by allowing for faster development and review. 

‍

In response to Moderna's announcement two months earlier, the FDA announced it had approved the vaccine in combination with Keytruda, demonstrating a 44% reduction in recurrences of melanoma following the use of the vaccine. 

‍

In addition, Burton emphasised that messenger RNA therapy may be able to solve the problem of rare diseases where no cure yet exists. These mRNA therapies may be available in the next decade, he said. 

‍

“I believe that we are on the verge of developing RNA-based therapies for rare diseases previously untreatable,” he told the Guardian. “I believe in the future, we will be approaching a world where we can identify a genetic cause for a disease, and, with relative ease, we can go ahead and edit out that gene and repair it using mRNA-based technology.” 

‍

A common respiratory infection that affects the lungs and respiratory system is virus called respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV. Moderna is one of the few pharmaceutical companies racing to invent a vaccine against RSV, which is usually associated with mild, cold-like symptoms when it infects the lungs and respiratory system. 

‍

The virus kills thousands to ten thousand seniors each year, and a few hundred children who are younger than five years of age, each year. 

‍

Earlier this year, Moderna was awarded Breakthrough Therapy Designation from the FDA for its potential RSV vaccine for adults ages 60 and older (moderna’s RSV vaccine has currently been tested in two phase three clinical trials at Moderna). This designation was based on positive topline results from Moderna’s phase three clinical trial for the RSV vaccine. 

‍

There was an effective preventive effect of 83.7% of the Moderna vaccine on people ages 60 and older with two or more symptoms of RSV, and an effective preventive effect of 82.4% on people with three or more symptoms of lower respiratory tract diseases. The company said that no safety concerns were found as a result of the trial, and plans to make the full data available to the public at an upcoming medical conference in order to share the results. 

‍