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(06.11.2017)
But despite being competitors, the companies’ CEOs seem to have quite a good relationship and consider each other collaborators rather than enemies. Every year, they organize an mRNA conference together that takes turns between Boston and Berlin to bring together all the stakeholders in the field. It was at this year’s edition, in Berlin, that I had the chance to bring them together for an interview regarding the future of mRNA therapies.
The trials will be held at Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in Seattle. Testing will involve 45 young, healthy volunteers and it uses Moderna’s mRNA-1273 vaccine.
„Unlike a normal vaccine, RNA vaccines work by introducing an mRNA sequence (the molecule which tells cells what to build) which is coded for a disease-specific antigen, once produced within the body, the antigen is recognized by the immune system, preparing it to fight the real thing,“ according to the University of Cambridge.
Since 2006, the company has been manufacturing mRNA-based vaccines and therapeutics. It is currently looking to boost its manufacturing capacity to supply up to billions of doses during outbreaks.
CureVac chief technology officer Mariola Fotin-Mleczek said: “Nature has invented mechanisms to activate our immune system against infectious diseases. With our unique messenger RNA technology, we mimic nature and give our body the information on how to fight against the virus.
CureVac in 2015 and 2018 secured financial backing for development projects from its investor the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, working on shots to prevent malaria and influenza.
In the field of so-called mRNA therapeutics, CureVac competes with U.S. biotech firm Moderna and German rival BioNTech, which Pfizer has identified as a potential collaboration partner.