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7 potential applications of mRNA-based therapeutics

mRNA image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Scientists have experimented with mRNA for decades, but the pandemic foisted the platform into the limelight. The Pfizer-BioNTech (NYSE:PFE/NSDQ:BNTX) and Moderna (NSDQ:MRNA) COVID-19 vaccines have since emerged as two of the best-selling pharmaceutical products in recent memory.

Researchers are now exploring dozens of new possibilities for the mRNA platform.

Here, we summarize several areas where mRNA could find use in the coming years.

1. Cardiovascular applications

Image by Raman Oza from Pixabay

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania recently shared positive data related to the use of mRNA and CAR-T cell therapy to treat cardiac fibrosis in a mouse model.

Last year, AstraZeneca (LON:AZN) announced positive results from a Phase…

Pfizer and BioNTech set their sights on developing mRNA-based shingles vaccine

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) and mRNA vaccine specialist BioNTech SE (NSDQ:BNTX) will collaborate to develop an mRNA-based vaccine to prevent the herpes zoster virus (shingles).

Roughly one million people in the U.S. get shingles each year, according to the CDC.

Currently, the two-dose Shingrix shingles vaccine from GSK (NYSE:GSK) is the only such product available in the U.S. market. Shingrix won FDA approval in 2017.

In 2020, Shingrix generated £1.99 billion ($2.55 billion) in sales internationally.

Pfizer and BioNTech began working together on an mRNA vaccine for influenza in 2018. Two years later, the two companies began work on a COVID-19 vaccine, which has since become one of the bestselling pharmaceutical products in the world.

The shingles mRNA vaccine collaboration will bring together Pfizer’s antigen technology and BioNTech’s mRNA platform.

The two companies will split development costs and plan on beginning clinical trials in th…

Shingles vaccination may lower risk of severe COVID-19, study finds

Image courtesy of Pixabay

A large retrospective study found that a recombinant adjuvanted zoster vaccine was associated with a 32% reduced risk of COVID-19-associated hospitalization. The study, published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases, also found that individuals who received at least one dose of the Shingrix vaccine were 16% less likely to be diagnosed with COVID-19 during the trial period. The study authors concluded that the Shingrix vaccine offered a durable reduction in COVID-19 risk.

The study was conducted by GSK (NYSE:GSK) and Kaiser Permanente Southern California (KPSC). Recruiting individuals at least 50 from 1 March 2020 to 31 December 2020, the study followed 149,244 Shingrix zoster vaccine recipients and 298,488 unvaccinated individuals.

The study authors concede that the analysis had limitations related to variable health status and adherence to COVID-19 protocols such as mask-…

ACIP votes unanimously backs GSK’s shingles vaccine Shingrix for immunocompromised adults 19 and older

CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) unanimously recommended two doses of GlaxoSmithKline’s (NYSE:GSK) Shingrix (a recombinant adjuvanted zoster vaccine) for adults 19 and older with immunodeficiency or immunosuppression as a result of disease or therapy.

CDC considers Shingrix to be an adult vaccine, and its recommendation is for the adult immunization schedule, which begins at the age of 19.

In addition, ACIP was unanimous in backing Merck’s (NYSE:MRK) and Pfizer’s (NYSE:PFE) pneumococcal vaccines in elderly and immunocompromised adults.

ACIP will share the recommendations with the director of the CDC and the US Department of Health and Human Services for review and approval.

Shingrix first won FDA approval in 2017 to prevent shingles in adults aged 50 and older. In July of this year, the agency extended approval to include adults aged 18 and older with an elevated risk of developing shingles as a result of immunodeficiency …

mRNA vaccine led to shingles in a handful of immunocompromised patients

Electron micrograph of the varicella-zoster virus. [Image courtesy of CDC]A group of researchers in Israel has concluded that an mRNA-based vaccine could activate herpes zoster (shingles) in a limited number of people with rheumatic diseases.

The viral infection, which can cause a painful rash, is caused by the varicella-zoster virus, which is also responsible for chickenpox.

In a study focusing on individuals with autoimmune inflammatory rheumatic diseases (AIRD), researchers at the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center and Carmel Medical Center in Haifa followed 491 patients and 99 controls. A total of six patients with AIIRD, or 1.2%, had a reactivation of herpes zoster after vaccination with the BNT162b2 vaccine from Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) and BioNTech (NSDQ:BNTX).

Get the full story from our sister site, Drug Discovery & Development.

mRNA vaccine led to shingles in a handful of immunocompromised patients

Electron micrograph of the varicella-zoster virus. Image courtesy of CDC.

A group of researchers in Israel has concluded that a mRNA-based vaccine could activate herpes zoster (shingles) in a limited number of people with rheumatic diseases.

The viral infection, which can cause a painful rash, is caused by the varicella-zoster virus, which is also responsible for chickenpox.

In a study focusing on individuals with autoimmune inflammatory rheumatic diseases (AIRD), researchers at the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center and Carmel Medical Center in Haifa followed 491 patients and 99 controls. A total of six patients with AIIRD, or 1.2%, had a reactivation of herpes zoster after vaccination with the BNT162b2 vaccine from Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) and BioNTech (NSDQ:BNTX).

No patients in the control arm developed shingles in the study published in Rheumatology.

The researchers acknowledged that the st…