Moderna launches programs to support mRNA research

Biotechnology company Moderna has announced the launch of its inaugural Australian Fellowship Program to support scientists with an interest in advancing mRNA innovation. The program is designed to support Australia-based mRNA research that over time can translate into clinical studies and ultimately new medicines.

“Moderna is committed to advancing mRNA science in as many unsolved, untreatable diseases as possible,” said Michael Azrak, General Manager of Moderna Australia & New Zealand, upon launching the program. “The medical and scientific community around the world has a significant focus on the acceleration of the transformational possibilities that mRNA offers. With this program, we can help Australia’s world-class medical research and biotech community to be at the forefront of contributions to unlocking the potential of mRNA science.”

From 2023 to 2027, Moderna’s first Australian Fellowship Program will award two fellowships every year to Australian researchers working on concepts that have the potential to enable the advancement of mRNA medicines. Along with salary and research costs, the initiative will provide expert mentorship, experiential learning and collaboration with Moderna’s R&D teams to support the recipient’s industry capabilities. Learning focus areas will include regulatory, translational and pharmaceutical sciences, R&D life cycle, project management and soft skills to round out individual effectiveness.

“We are proud to launch our new, local fellowship program,” Azrak said. “When we confirmed our partnership with the Australian and Victorian Governments to secure our nation’s first large-scale mRNA manufacturing facility, we also committed to help advance mRNA scientific endeavours within the country’s scientific community. This is an important step in fulfilling this.”

The local fellowship program will partner with Moderna’s Global Fellowship Program, which has run since 2021 and has already awarded seven fellowships to Australian researchers. The Australian program is open for applications from basic and clinical researchers who live and work in Australia until 30 June. More information can be found at https://www.modernatx.com/en-AU/fellowship.

Some days before the launch of the program, The University of Queensland (UQ) was selected as one of the first institutions in the world to partner with Moderna to research and develop vaccines to tackle global public health threats. The partnership, brokered by UQ researchers Professor Mark Walker and Professor Paul Young, will allow UQ scientists access to Moderna’s mRNA platform to develop mRNA vaccines for neglected and emerging viruses.

Young said there were at least 10 disease research projects underway at UQ that could benefit immediately from the mRNA Access partnership, which will focus on diseases that have the potential to emerge as future pandemics as well as those that are already a problem in low- and middle-income countries, like dengue, malaria, tuberculosis and Zika virus.

“Moderna will set up a portal where researchers in this collaborative agreement will have access to their mRNA technology to target these identified pathogens,” he said.

“What we would be getting from them is that full package — we would provide the sequence, they would provide back to us a formulated vaccine that we would put into preclinical studies,” Walker added.

Walker said the partnership would speed up the production of new vaccines through the use of rapid-turnaround technology, and that the progression from vaccine identification to clinical use could happen in as little as 100 days.

“There is no doubt that the production of vaccines to target these diseases will be delivered more quickly by this collaboration,” he said.

Young said the partnership could also result in commercial opportunities. “For example, if the mRNA technology can be successfully applied to generate an effective dengue vaccine, something that has been a goal for many decades, then not only will we be addressing a long-term global disease threat but also helping to support our local biotechnology industry,” he said.

Walker added that there could also be applications for bacterial diseases that are resistant to antibiotics, as researchers are starting to think about trying to resolve this growing global threat via vaccines.

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