4 ms·

Does anyone know how reusable the mRNA infrastructure is in the future for other mRNA based solutions or is this stuff more one-off for COVID?

maxerickson 6y ago
It should be fully reusable for similar applications. The mRNA production is basically 1:1 capacity. If a different application needed a different lipid some of the stuff might not be suitable.
syntaxing 6y ago
It’s pretty much the holy grail for vaccines. It delivers the spike protein via mRNA and the hardest part is the delivery which they’re ironing out with nanolipids (also Moderna biggest IP) during this COVID run. Though I’m an engineer so take everything at face value.
- _Microft 6y ago
  The vaccine only contains the (mRNA) blueprints for the spike protein that cells of the body will then produce themselves. The immune system then reacts to those.
dmitryminkovsky 6y ago
In my understanding, the mRNA platform can be used for any application where you want to temporarily express a protein in the body. In the case of these COVID vaccines, it's being used to express the coronavirus spike protein, but Moderna is already using this technology for HIV, flu and others[0]. I believe the applications beyond vaccines are many, too. [0] https://www.marketwatch.com/story/moderna-offers-update-on-vaccine-program-to-launch-studies-of-flu-hiv-vaccine-candidates-in-2021-2021-04-14 https://www.marketwatch.com/story/moderna-offers-update-on-v...
theptip 6y ago
On both ends of the spectrum of mortality rates: Common cold: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23159882/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23159882/. Malaria: https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2021/03/12/yale-lab-develops-revolutionary-rna-vaccine-for-malaria/ https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2021/03/12/yale-lab-develops-...
andylynch 6y ago
Very. Moderna's main focus is (or was) oncology; specifically personalized cancer vaccines.
donretag 6y ago
mRNA is a decade in the making, which is why they were able to target/isolate a COVID-19 vaccine is a very short time. Two weeks I believe, someone please correct me.
- throwawayboise 6y ago
  I think it was more like two days. Very quick.
  - phnofive 6y ago
    To be fair, the previously published genome gave a big head start - not sure how long that took though.

maxerickson 6y ago

It should be fully reusable for similar applications. The mRNA production is basically 1:1 capacity. If a different application needed a different lipid some of the stuff might not be suitable.

syntaxing 6y ago

It’s pretty much the holy grail for vaccines. It delivers the spike protein via mRNA and the hardest part is the delivery which they’re ironing out with nanolipids (also Moderna biggest IP) during this COVID run. Though I’m an engineer so take everything at face value.

_Microft 6y ago
The vaccine only contains the (mRNA) blueprints for the spike protein that cells of the body will then produce themselves. The immune system then reacts to those.

dmitryminkovsky 6y ago

In my understanding, the mRNA platform can be used for any application where you want to temporarily express a protein in the body. In the case of these COVID vaccines, it's being used to express the coronavirus spike protein, but Moderna is already using this technology for HIV, flu and others[0]. I believe the applications beyond vaccines are many, too. [0] https://www.marketwatch.com/story/moderna-offers-update-on-vaccine-program-to-launch-studies-of-flu-hiv-vaccine-candidates-in-2021-2021-04-14 https://www.marketwatch.com/story/moderna-offers-update-on-v...

theptip 6y ago

On both ends of the spectrum of mortality rates: Common cold: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23159882/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23159882/. Malaria: https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2021/03/12/yale-lab-develops-revolutionary-rna-vaccine-for-malaria/ https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2021/03/12/yale-lab-develops-...

andylynch 6y ago

Very. Moderna's main focus is (or was) oncology; specifically personalized cancer vaccines.

donretag 6y ago

mRNA is a decade in the making, which is why they were able to target/isolate a COVID-19 vaccine is a very short time. Two weeks I believe, someone please correct me.

throwawayboise 6y ago
I think it was more like two days. Very quick.
- phnofive 6y ago
  To be fair, the previously published genome gave a big head start - not sure how long that took though.