Moderna, IAVI ink pact to employ mRNA technology to meet challenge of range of global health threats
mRNA technology enables more rapid production of material for clinical testing than can be achieved by conventional recombinant protein synthesis or cell systems.
New York: Moderna and the nonprofit scientific research organization IAVI have announced a new collaboration to employ mRNA technology to meet the challenge of a range of global health threats. These diseases - HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis (TB), antimicrobial-resistant enteric infections, and COVID-19 - are estimated to have caused at least 95 million new infections and more than 4 million deaths in 2020 alone.
The collaboration combines the power of Moderna's mRNA platform and IAVI's expertise in discovery and product development to advance vaccines and antibodies designed to be globally accessible, especially in low-income countries where the targeted diseases have high incidence and prevalence.
"We are excited to partner with IAVI to leverage the power of mRNA and extend our commitment to global health across multiple diseases. Moderna's mRNA platform, with its speed, scale, and flexibility, is uniquely suited to tackle current and emerging pathogens," said Stéphane Bancel, Chief Executive Officer of Moderna. "With our mRNA technology and IAVI's discovery and development expertise, together we have an opportunity to address persistent global health threats."
"Since our founding 25 years ago, we at IAVI have been focused on translating scientific discovery into broadly accessible solutions for global health problems. Moderna's proven, innovative platform has the potential to be a key that unlocks rapid production of vaccine and antibody candidates that could significantly accelerate our ability to solve the most difficult public health problems. IAVI's partnership with Moderna is a unique example of two organizations with complementary expertise and shared goals combining the best of our science to address urgent global public health needs," said Mark Feinberg, M.D., Ph.D., president and CEO of IAVI.
mRNA technology enables more rapid production of material for clinical testing than can be achieved by conventional recombinant protein synthesis or cell systems.
"The partners hope to harness this speed of production to accelerate research and development. If the products are shown to be efficacious and safe, they could be rapidly manufactured at a large scale.," the release stated.
