Hot topic: From mRNA to mRNO – What impact will US funding cuts have on the technology?

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The US administration’s decision to stop federal funding worth $500 million for research into mRNA-based vaccines has not gone down well with the scientific community.

Researchers argue the premise for the cuts – that in the words of US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., mRNA vaccines “fail to protect effectively against upper respiratory infections like COVID and flu” – is flawed. They also say studies cited by the HHS to back up this statement were taken out of context.

But, given there’s almost zero chance of HHS reversing the decision, what’s it going to impact?

The big thing to remember is that these cuts are being targeted at research developing mRNA-based vaccines for respiratory diseases such as COVID and flu.

Importantly, federal research funding for mRNA-based cancer therapeutics – the other main area where the technology is being developed right now – remains untouched. Optimists will see the “sparing” of mRNA cancer research funding as a plus; everything is relative.

So, what exactly is being cut? The HHS has said it is “terminating 22 mRNA vaccine development investments” that were funded by its Biomedical Advances Research and Development Authority (BARDA).

HHS did not publish a full list of the 22 affected projects, nor how much each was worth. No such comprehensive list appears to have been published anywhere. The following is therefore a list of what’s known to have been cut:

  • Emory University – ~$750,000 contract to develop a dry powder, inhalable mRNA-based “vaccine” to protect people against Covid.
  • Tiba Biotech – ~$750,000 contract to develop a siRNA-based treatment to disrupt flu virus replication in the lungs.
  • Luminary Labs. ModeX, and Seqirus – Funding for unspecified mRNA vaccine projects “de-scoped”. No figures given.
  • Moderna and Texas University Medical Branch – A contract to develop mRNA vaccine(s) to protect against H5N1 avian flu. No figures given, but overall contract for bird flu research thought to be worth tens of millions of dollars.
  • Moderna and Texas University Medical Branch, AAHI, AstraZeneca, HDT Bio – Their work collaborating with the US Department of Defense’s Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defence (JPEO) is being “restructured”. No figures given.
  • Pfizer, Sanofi Pasteur, CSL, Seqirus, Gristone – Pre-awards for new mRNA vaccine research cancelled. No figures given.
  • Arcturus, Amplitude – Existing projects on next-generation mRNA vaccines are being allowed to run to completion, but contracts will not be renewed. No figures given.

More generally, the lack of certainty over government backing for mRNA respiratory infection vaccine programmes could well have a knock-on impact, leading to a pausing of commercial investment in the area in the US. Will that result in such funding going to European (and indeed Asian) based operations instead? Watch this space.