Start-ups and established companies hope that the technology will prove effective at tackling indications outside of infectious disease, with many programs focused on rare disease, immunology, and oncology.
Optimizing mRNA technology. Given mRNA vaccines’ significant contribution to curbing the COVID-19 pandemic, an interest in optimizing the platform continues to grow. Leaders in the space, such as Moderna and BioNTech, are spending billions to advance their mRNA pipelines in a wide set of indications. On top of these large investments, VC investors are betting on even more innovation in the field with almost $250 million in VC funding in 2022. Start-ups have been exploring new mRNA structures and self-replicating capabilities to overcome the current transient nature of treatment. Targeting molecules and synthetic switches are also being added to mRNA to improve tissue targeting and enable cell-specific expression. Start-ups and established companies hope that the technology will prove effective at tackling indications outside of infectious disease, with many programs focused on rare disease, immunology, and oncology.