Regulators have approved Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine in more than 70 countries that include the UK, Israel, Canada and Japan, as well as the EU.

In Europe, the company intends to extend its commercial network across six more countries, including Belgium, Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Poland and Sweden. It said the move, which adds to subsidiaries already operating in the UK, Italy, France, Germany, Spain and Switzerland, will support local delivery of mRNA vaccines and therapeutics.

Moderna will also establish subsidiaries in Malaysia, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong. Last May, the company announced a collaboration with the South Korean government to explore local opportunities for research and manufacturing, and last December it agreed in principle with the Australian government to build a mRNA vaccine production plant in Victoria.

Moderna’s broader pipeline currently comprises 40 development programs, of which 25 are in clinical trials. The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotech is developing mRNA medicines that could potentially prevent and treat diseases with significant unmet needs. These include infectious diseases, cancer, rare and ultra-rare diseases, and autoimmune conditions.

For 2022 and beyond, Moderna has four key strategic aims. These include the development and continuous customization of a pan-respiratory annual booster vaccine for multiple viruses, such as Covid-19, flu and respiratory syncytial virus, along with developing first-in-class vaccines against latent viruses for which there are currently no approved drugs.

Moderna has clinical candidates in development for several latent viruses, including EpsteinBarr (Phase 1), human immunodeficiency virus (Phase 1), and Cytomegalovirus (Phase 3).

The other two aims are to develop therapeutics based on mRNA-encoded proteins across oncology, cardiovascular, auto-immune disorders and rare genetic diseases, as well as therapeutics based on mRNA-encoded gene-editing enzymes.

Author: Elaine Burridge, Freelance Journalist