Moderna says its mRNA Access program could help with the next pandemic

Moderna’s mRNA Access program (Nasdaq: MRNA) enables researchers to use its mRNA technology platform for research projects related to emerging and neglected infectious diseases.

“It takes a community of scientists and disease experts to develop novel vaccines to tackle our greatest public health threats,” said Hamilton Bennett, Moderna’s senior director, vaccine access and partnerships.

“mRNA Access was born of the idea that we are stewards of our platform, and by allowing researchers to access that platform, and leverage the preclinical, clinical, regulatory and manufacturing capabilities that we’ve created, we could accelerate the development of novel vaccines,” Bennett said.

To prepare for future pandemics, the company is keeping tabs on known and emerging pathogens that pose a considerable risk with the potential for devastating impact on lives around the globe.

Before the pandemic, Moderna had mRNA de…

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Regeneron exec shares how Ebola inspired COVID-19 treatment

The speed that pharmaceutical companies developed COVID-19 treatments and vaccines was “seemingly miraculous,” said Dr. George Yancopoulos, co-founder of Regeneron (NSDQ: REGN), in remarks when receiving a Titans of Global Health award.

“But these miracles were actually born many decades earlier,” he said at the virtual event ceremony from the American Friends of the Hebrew University.

NIAID director Dr. Anthony Fauci and fellow Regeneron co-founder Dr. Leonard Schleifer also were honored at the event. 

Scientists had been working on mRNA on vaccines for more than a decade before the emergency use authorizations of COVID-19 vaccines from Moderna (NSDQ:MRNA) and Pfizer (NYSE:PFE). “Similarly, the technologies we use to develop our REGN-COV2 antibody cocktail were not available 10 or 20 years ago,” shared Yancopoulos, who is currently president and chief scientific officer of Regeneron. “We had to invent them and perfect them.” 

The antibody treat…

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