5 ms·

This seems like a very short-sighted take at best. Moderna has been around for over a decade. Their goal from the start was to commercialize mRNA therapy, targe

This seems like a very short-sighted take at best. Moderna has been around for over a decade. Their goal from the start was to commercialize mRNA therapy, targeting a variety of therapeutic applications such as heart disease and cancer. I don't know if viral immunization was ever even on their radar before Covid happened. The point is, they have been working for a long time to bring mRNA tech to fruition, and now they have successfully demonstrated they can do it. Their business model going forward isn't going to be just collecting rent on Covid vaccines.

andreygrehov 5y ago
> I don't know if viral immunization was ever even on their radar before Covid happened. Here is a quote straight out from Moderna's patent: Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) emerged in China in 2002 and spread to other countries before brought under control. Because of a concern for reemergence or a deliberate release of the SARS coronavirus, vaccine development was initiated.
- cshimmin 5y ago
  Cool, I did not know that! What/when is this patent?
- ethbr0 5y ago
  Vaccines are among the simpler things they could use the delivery technology for. However, their key advantage over competitors is development speed. Until COVID-19 though, that wasn't something we needed. If vaccines took an extra 2, or 4, or 10 years to develop, it was usually okay.
Moto7451 5y ago
This is spot on. My brother is a candidate for one of their cancer treatments once it makes it to a wider testing phase. They didn’t just come up with that in their spare time this year. That’s a long time in the works.
- kylehotchkiss 5y ago
  Wishing him a successful and speedy recovery!
profmonocle 5y ago
> Their goal from the start was to commercialize mRNA therapy Somehow I just realized the company's name is derived from "mRNA."
- aorth 5y ago
  Yeah it's awesome! And their stock ticker is MRNA too! So cool... https://www.nyse.com/quote/XNGS:MRNA https://www.nyse.com/quote/XNGS:MRNA
  - cblconfederate 5y ago
    Let's see how many companies will rename themselves to add mrna to their title
- BenoitP 5y ago
  There's 'modified' in there as well: > Eventually, he figured he had had a name under his nose since 2008, when his lab’s staff started experimenting with modified mRNA and referring to it, for short, as “mod RNA.” Moderna. https://qz.com/2001718/modernas-founder-says-mrna-can-treat-a-wide-range-of-diseases/ https://qz.com/2001718/modernas-founder-says-mrna-can-treat-...

andreygrehov 5y ago

> I don't know if viral immunization was ever even on their radar before Covid happened. Here is a quote straight out from Moderna's patent: Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) emerged in China in 2002 and spread to other countries before brought under control. Because of a concern for reemergence or a deliberate release of the SARS coronavirus, vaccine development was initiated.

cshimmin 5y ago
Cool, I did not know that! What/when is this patent?
ethbr0 5y ago
Vaccines are among the simpler things they could use the delivery technology for. However, their key advantage over competitors is development speed. Until COVID-19 though, that wasn't something we needed. If vaccines took an extra 2, or 4, or 10 years to develop, it was usually okay.

Moto7451 5y ago

This is spot on. My brother is a candidate for one of their cancer treatments once it makes it to a wider testing phase. They didn’t just come up with that in their spare time this year. That’s a long time in the works.

kylehotchkiss 5y ago
Wishing him a successful and speedy recovery!

profmonocle 5y ago

> Their goal from the start was to commercialize mRNA therapy Somehow I just realized the company's name is derived from "mRNA."

aorth 5y ago
Yeah it's awesome! And their stock ticker is MRNA too! So cool... https://www.nyse.com/quote/XNGS:MRNA https://www.nyse.com/quote/XNGS:MRNA
- cblconfederate 5y ago
  Let's see how many companies will rename themselves to add mrna to their title
BenoitP 5y ago
There's 'modified' in there as well: > Eventually, he figured he had had a name under his nose since 2008, when his lab’s staff started experimenting with modified mRNA and referring to it, for short, as “mod RNA.” Moderna. https://qz.com/2001718/modernas-founder-says-mrna-can-treat-a-wide-range-of-diseases/ https://qz.com/2001718/modernas-founder-says-mrna-can-treat-...