This is just the beginning
Today marks the start of World Immunization Week, a time to reflect on the importance of vaccines and immunization. The past year, in particular, has underscored its significance and brought us hope that vaccinations can help control the COVID-19 pandemic and other deadly diseases. Vaccines are second to only the availability of clean water in the impact to public health¹.
COVID-19 has marked a new era – not just for science, but for society. Over the last year, we have realized the immense potential that mRNA vaccines can deliver. We are humbled that our mRNA vaccine is helping in the fight against COVID-19.
At Moderna, we are committed to continue leveraging our platform to accelerate the development of mRNA vaccines. Our impact on the pandemic gives us hope that we can do much more for the future.
We are committed to investing the full force of Moderna’s resources and people to bring forward mRNA vaccines to prevent serious diseases. We want to have an even bigger impact in the future and are investing in research to create new mRNA vaccines and investing in development to accelerate and expand our pipeline.
This is just the beginning.
Our team of scientists has been researching and developing mRNA since 2010. And today our 1,300 employees are leading the fight against COVID-19 and accelerating our efforts to remake vaccine R&D using mRNA.
We believe we have a unique opportunity to develop new vaccines against viruses impacting people around the world, at a pace that is radically different than what the industry has previously attained.
Beyond COVID-19, we are developing vaccines for other viruses that harm humans and where there is an unmet need. We expect to begin a Phase 3 study of our cytomegalovirus (CMV) vaccine candidate in 2021. This is particularly important as CMV is a leading infectious cause of birth defects worldwide. We are developing an mRNA approach to an influenza vaccine, and we expect to begin a Phase 1 study of our mRNA flu vaccine candidate in 2021. We are also working on global public health vaccines. It’s been a long-term commitment of Moderna to continue to advance vaccines against pathogens of public health concern because we believe they are critical to health security.
We realize we cannot maximize the potential of mRNA without ensuring that access to these vaccines and medicines is inclusive of all communities. For this reason, we slowed the Phase 3 COVE study of our COVID-19 vaccine in the United States to ensure that our trial was representative of the communities at highest risk and of our diverse society. Our work doesn’t stop there – we are applying what we learned from our COVID-19 studies to our upcoming CMV vaccine Phase 3 study. We recently shared our demographic enrollment goals for that study, and we will hold ourselves accountable to remaining transparent and meeting those goals. We will continue to pursue mRNA vaccines to protect vulnerable populations like children and older adults.
Our work doesn’t stop with vaccines. We’re harnessing the power of mRNA to potentially address rare diseases, cardiovascular disease, autoimmune diseases and more. By turning innovation into impact every day at Moderna, we can advance our mission for patients and help improve so many lives around the world.
mRNA has been a game-changing approach as we work to combat the pandemic and look beyond. We are dedicated to bringing our mRNA vaccine platform to multiple diseases where there is an unmet need, and we are hopeful for the breakthroughs that we believe Moderna will be able to achieve. Our mission is to deliver on the promise of mRNA science to create a new generation of transformative medicines for patients. We believe this is just the beginning.
Stéphane Bancel, Chief Executive Officer, Moderna
Stephen Hoge, M.D., President, Moderna
Jacqueline Miller, M.D., SVP & Therapeutic Area Head, Infectious Diseases, Moderna
Forward-Looking Statement
This post contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended, including statements regarding: the acceleration of the development of the Company’s mRNA vaccine pipeline; the Company’s contributions to managing the current and future pandemics; the Company’s ability to develop vaccines against viruses, and the speed of that development; the Company’s ability to have a profound impact on global health; the Company’s development of vaccines against CMV, influenza and clinical trials in connection with such development; the Company’s conduct of future clinical trials and transparency regarding trial participants; and the treatment of rare, cardiovascular, autoimmune and other diseases with mRNA technology. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as “will,” “may,” “should,” “could,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “aims,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “potential,” “continue,” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. The forward-looking statements in this statement 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, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties, and other factors 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, 2020, 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 annual report 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 hereof