Dive Brief:
- Moderna is a high-profile, privately held biotech company specializing in leverage messenger RNA (mRNA), with the goal of inducing the body to produce its own therapeutic proteins. After a long run-up period in which it has built a large pipeline, Moderna has partnered with PPD, a CRO, to help advance its candidates into clinical trials.
- Since its founding in 2012, Moderna has raised $1 billion in venture funding.
- Moderna has many high-profile investors, including large pharma companies like Merck and AstraZeneca.
Dive Insight:
For more than three years, Moderna has generated excitement because of the promise of its mRNA technology and the potential for stimulating the body to essentially produce its own drugs. At this point, Moderna has more than 50 preclinical drugs in its pipeline, yet none of them has entered clinical study.
Moderna's collaboration with PPD signals the beginning of the process to bring promising candidates to market. The deal between the two companies is based on a risk-sharing model in which both partners will benefit from the achievement of key milestones. The deal aims to get clinical development scaled up to a point where Moderna can develop numerous drugs simultaneously.
Moderna's pipeline of preclinical drugs stretches across various therapeutic areas, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, and rare diseases.