TIDM0A45
Moderna Inc
30 October 2023
CEPI AND MODERNA HARNESS MRNA TECHNOLOGY TO ADVANCE 100 DAYS
MISSION
New partnership will harness Moderna's mRNA rapid-response
platform, clinically validated during the COVID-19 pandemic, to
accelerate epidemic and pandemic vaccine development
First project will enable rapid pre-clinical testing of antigen
designs for high-risk viral families, to advance global outbreak
readiness
CAMBRIDGE, MA / ACCESSWIRE / October 30, 2023 / The Coalition
for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and Moderna, Inc.
(NASDAQ:MRNA) have entered into a strategic partnership that will
harness Moderna's mRNA platform to accelerate the development of
vaccines against viral disease outbreaks that threaten global
health. The work undertaken as part of this partnership could
expand the infectious disease targets for mRNA vaccine technology
and strengthen pandemic preparedness and public health efforts in
alignment with the 100 Days Mission, a global goal to compress
vaccine development timelines to 100 days.
mRNA technology has been identified as a pivotal enabler of the
100 Days Mission due to its flexibility as a rapid-response
platform on which new vaccine candidates can be designed and
quickly made ready for clinical testing and subsequent scale-up,
potentially within days from the moment a new viral threat is
identified. Moderna's leading mRNA platform has enabled the
development of a highly effective COVID-19 vaccine, which has
subsequently been approved by multiple stringent regulatory
authorities worldwide.
Dr Richard Hatchett, CEO of CEPI, said: "Future outbreaks are
inevitable, but another pandemic is not. Thanks to the scientific
and technological innovations advanced during COVID-19, the world
now has the tools and capabilities to prevent the next outbreak
from spiraling into a global catastrophe. Chief among them is the
now proven mRNA vaccine technology, which can be used to develop
safe and effective vaccines with remarkable speed that can be
rapidly manufactured at scale. Our partnership with Moderna will
harness the company's clinically validated mRNA platform and its
world-leading team of scientists to help prepare to respond to
future epidemic and pandemic threats in as little as 100 days."
Stéphane Bancel, CEO of Moderna, said: "We are pleased to
announce our strategic partnership with CEPI, harnessing the power
of Moderna's mRNA platform to accelerate the development of mRNA
vaccines against viral disease outbreaks that pose global public
health threats. Our mRNA Access program reinforces our dedication
to public health by offering researchers the opportunity to utilize
our mRNA technology in the development of vaccines for emerging and
neglected infectious diseases. We believe this program can play a
key role in helping the next generation of researchers and
engineers to advance mRNA science."
Selecting successful pandemic vaccine designs
The partnership will kick off with an initial project to
evaluate the performance of novel AI-generated antigen designs and
mRNA technology against a range of viral families that carry the
greatest risk of causing the next pandemic. Building upon Moderna's
existing mRNA Access program, CEPI-funded vaccine researchers will
send their cutting-edge computational antigen designs to Moderna,
who will rapidly manufacture the related vaccine candidates using
Moderna's mRNA platform technology to provide material for
preclinical testing funded by CEPI.
The project will enable CEPI-funded researchers to swiftly test
multiple antigen designs targeting a specific viral family and
quickly identify which, if any, are most promising. It will also
generate data on the performance of mRNA vaccine technology against
selected viral families and assess the suitability and
effectiveness of mRNA for different disease targets. This would
contribute vital scientific knowledge to inform further vaccine
development targets and could give the world a headstart in
response to future emerging outbreaks to advance the 100 Days
Mission.
CEPI and Moderna will discuss additional vaccine development
projects which fall under the remit of this strategic partnership,
with further announcements to follow in due course.
Enabling Equitable Access
CEPI and Moderna are committed to enabling equitable access to
the outputs of this strategic partnership. CEPI will retain rights
to antigen designs which have been generated using CEPI funding,
with CEPI-funded partners committed to submitting their data
generated by this project for publication in open-access journals
for the benefit of the global scientific community.
Any licensed vaccines developed as a result of this strategic
partnership are expected to be made available at affordable prices
in low- and middle-income countries.
CEPI and Moderna
CEPI and Moderna first worked together in early 2020, when CEPI
provided early catalytic investment of $0.9 million to support the
production of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine (mRNA-1273).
About CEPI
CEPI is an innovative partnership between public, private,
philanthropic, and civil organisations, launched at Davos in 2017.
Its mission is to accelerate the development of vaccines and other
biologic countermeasures against epidemic and pandemic threats so
they can be accessible to all people in need.
CEPI has supported the development of over 30 vaccine candidates
against its priority pathogens-Chikungunya virus, Ebola Virus
Disease, Lassa virus, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus,
Nipah virus, Rift Valley Fever virus and SARS-CoV-2-and is a
leading funder of research into broadly protective coronavirus
vaccines, which could protect against future variants of COVID-19
as well as other coronaviruses with epidemic and pandemic
potential. The organization has also invested in the development of
rapid response platforms to develop vaccines against Disease X (the
threat of an unknown virus).
CEPI has overseen a number of scientific breakthroughs,
including the first Phase 3 trial of a Chikungunya vaccine and the
advancement of the first ever Nipah and Lassa vaccines into Phase 1
trials. The organization played a central role in the global
response to COVID-19, supporting the development of one of the
world's largest portfolios of vaccines against SARS-CoV-2, seven of
which have been approved for domestic or global use. It also co-led
COVAX, the global initiative to deliver fair and equitable access
to COVID-19 vaccines, which has delivered approximately 2 billion
doses of vaccine to 146 countries around the world.
CEPI's five-year plan for 2022-2026 aims to dramatically reduce
or even eliminate the future risk of pandemics and epidemics.
Central to the plan is CEPI's goal to compress the time taken to
develop safe, effective, globally accessible vaccines against new
threats to just 100 days. Achieving this ' 100 Days Mission' ,
which has been embraced by the G7 and G20, would give the world a
fighting chance of containing a future outbreak before it can
spread to become a global pandemic.
Visit our news page for the latest updates. Follow us via
@CEPIvaccines , @DrRHatchett , LinkedIn , and Facebook .
About Moderna
In over 10 years since its inception, Moderna has transformed
from a research-stage company advancing programs in the field of
messenger RNA (mRNA), to an enterprise with a diverse clinical
portfolio of vaccines and therapeutics across seven modalities, a
broad intellectual property portfolio and integrated manufacturing
facilities that allow for rapid clinical and commercial production
at scale. Moderna maintains alliances with a broad range of
domestic and overseas government and commercial collaborators,
which has allowed for the pursuit of both groundbreaking science
and rapid scaling of manufacturing. Most recently, Moderna's
capabilities have come together to allow the authorized use and
approval of one of the earliest and most effective vaccines against
the COVID-19 pandemic.
Moderna's mRNA platform builds on continuous advances in basic
and applied mRNA science, delivery technology and manufacturing,
and has allowed the development of therapeutics and vaccines for
infectious diseases, immuno-oncology, rare diseases, cardiovascular
diseases and auto-immune diseases. Moderna has been named a top
biopharmaceutical employer by Science for the past eight years. To
learn more, visit www.modernatx.com.
Moderna forward-looking statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995, as amended, including regarding: Moderna and CEPI entering a
strategic partnership to harness Moderna's mRNA platform to
accelerate the development of vaccines against viral disease
outbreaks that threaten global health. The forward-looking
statements in this press release are neither promises nor
guarantees, and you should not place undue reliance on these
forward-looking statements because they involve known and unknown
risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond
Moderna's control and which could cause actual results to differ
materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking
statements. These risks, uncertainties, and other factors include
those other risks and uncertainties described under the heading
"Risk Factors" in Moderna's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year
ended December 31, 2022, filed with the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission (SEC) and in subsequent filings made by Moderna
with the SEC, which are available on the SEC's website at
www.sec.gov. Except as required by law, Moderna disclaims any
intention or responsibility for updating or revising any
forward-looking statements contained in this press release in the
event of new information, future developments or otherwise. These
forward-looking statements are based on Moderna's current
expectations and speak only as of the date of this press
release.
Contact Details
CEPI
press@cepi.net
+44 7387 055214
Moderna
Media:
Luke Mircea-Willats
Senior Director, International Communications
Luke.mirceawillats@modernatx.com
Investors:
Lavina Talukdar
Senior Vice President & Head of Investor Relations
617-209-5834
Lavina.Talukdar@modernatx.com
SOURCE: Moderna, Inc.
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