On Monday, a spokesperson for Moderna confirmed to CNBC that the company aims to develop new vaccines to target cancer, heart disease, and other illnesses by 2030. This follows comments made by the company’s chief medical officer, Dr. Paul Burton, to The Guardian on Saturday, expressing his confidence that these vaccines will be ready by the end of the decade, and possibly in as little as five years.
According to Moderna’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Paul Burton, recent advancements in messenger RNA (mRNA) technology have opened the door for a new era of life-saving vaccines. In an interview with The Guardian, Burton expressed confidence that Moderna would be able to offer vaccines for cancer, heart disease, autoimmune diseases, and other conditions by the end of the decade, and possibly in as little as five years. He emphasized that mRNA technology is not limited to infectious diseases or Covid, and can be applied to a wide range of disease areas.
According to Moderna’s chief medical officer, Dr. Paul Burton, studies on vaccines for disease areas such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, autoimmune diseases, and rare diseases have shown “tremendous promise.” Burton made these remarks to the Guardian on Saturday, noting that advancements in messenger RNA (mRNA) technology have opened up new opportunities for the development of vaccines. Moderna, which is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has become well-known for its mRNA Covid vaccine and is now experiencing a post-pandemic boom.
Ahead of Moderna’s Vaccine Day on Tuesday, Dr. Paul Burton, Moderna’s Chief Medical Officer, spoke to the Guardian about the company’s plans to develop new vaccines for cancer, heart disease, and other conditions by 2030 using messenger RNA (mRNA) technology. According to Burton, studies have shown “tremendous promise” in using mRNA for those disease areas. He also highlighted Moderna’s personalized cancer vaccine, which is expected to be highly effective and could save “hundreds of thousands, if not millions of lives.” The annual event typically provides updates on vaccine development.
Moderna’s personalized cancer vaccine in combination with Merck’s immunotherapy drug Keytruda received Breakthrough Therapy Designation from the Food and Drug Administration in February for treating patients with a fatal form of skin cancer known as melanoma. The designation is aimed at accelerating the development and review of drugs for severe or life-threatening illnesses.
Moderna’s announcement of its personalized cancer vaccine receiving Breakthrough Therapy Designation from the FDA for melanoma came two months after the company released the results of a phase two clinical trial. The trial showed that the vaccine, in combination with Keytruda, decreased melanoma recurrence by 44%. Moderna’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Paul Burton, also emphasized the potential of messenger RNA technology to address rare diseases without available treatments. According to Burton, these mRNA therapies could be available within the next ten years.
Burton expressed his belief that within the next decade, messenger RNA-based therapies for rare diseases that were previously deemed undruggable will be available. He also predicted that in the near future, it will be possible to identify the genetic cause of a disease and use mRNA-based technology to edit and repair it, bringing us closer to a world where this is a reality.
Moderna is one of the few pharmaceutical companies striving to introduce the world’s first vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a disease that infects the lungs and respiratory tract and typically causes mild, cold-like symptoms. RSV is responsible for the deaths of around 6,000 to 10,000 seniors and a few hundred children under five every year.
Moderna’s potential vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in adults aged 60 and above also received Breakthrough Therapy Designation from the FDA this year, similar to the cancer shot. The designation was granted based on positive topline data from Moderna’s phase three clinical trial on the vaccine.
According to Moderna, its potential RSV vaccine for adults aged 60 and older received Breakthrough Therapy Designation from the FDA earlier this year, based on positive topline data from its phase three clinical trial. The vaccine was found to be 83.7% effective in preventing RSV with two or more symptoms and 82.4% effective at preventing lower respiratory tract disease with three or more symptoms. The trial did not identify any safety concerns, and the company intends to present the full data set and share results during an upcoming medical conference.