Moderna's CEO Outlines Non-COVID Pipeline View

Moderna Inc’s MRNA CEO Stéphane Bancel in an interview with Forbes, said that the company would continue with its work on new vaccines for a range of indications other than COVID-19, including infectious disease, cancer treatments, and genetic disorders like cystic fibrosis.

Vaccine for COVID-19 variants: Moderna has already shipped a new batch of COVID-19 vaccines to the National Institutes of Health for testing targeting the B.1.351 variant first discovered in South Africa.

In March, it also started clinical trials of a new version of its vaccine stable at refrigerator temperatures, unlike the current version that must be stored in ultra-cold freezers.

Improved Flu Vaccine: It is working on a new vaccine that Bancel believes will be 90% effective or more against the flu. He also says that the vaccines can be altered quickly to adapt to yearly changes in the virus.

Cancer vaccines: MRNA currently has five therapeutic cancer vaccines, injections in clinical trials. 

Bancel says that mRNA cancer vaccines could have the advantage as they would be safe, easy to develop, and relatively cheap. 

He notes that two current vaccines on the market treat existing cancers (instead of preventing them, like the HPV vaccine), but both are only used for advanced cancers and are expensive.

Congenital disabilities: The company is working on a vaccine for cytomegalovirus, or CMV. A harmless virus for most healthy adults, CMV can be passed from parent to baby in the womb. 

Bancel says that scientists have tried to create a vaccine to prevent CMV for more than 20 years, and Moderna’s current vaccine is a “very complex” shot that involves six different mRNA strands per vial. Despite those challenges, Bancel says that so far, “the phase 1 and phase 2 data look very strong.”

Cystic Fibrosis: Moderna, in partnership with Vertex Pharmaceuticals, is working on gene therapy for cystic fibrosis.

Under the terms of the agreement, Moderna will conduct research activities and receive $75 million upfront. Also, it is eligible to receive up to $380 million in milestone payments.

Many of these treatments under discussion are still a few years off, but Bancel says their potential paints a picture of what the future could look like when an mRNA is an everyday tool for drug development. According to Bancel, “mRNA is going to be gigantic in the next 10 to 20 years.”

Price Action: MRNA shares are down 2.75% down at $132.76 in market trading hours on the last check Wednesday.