RSV and cancer vaccines

“He basically came to the point where he was in my arms and really limped, and the color disappeared from his face,” Chartres says.

Loading

Louis was taken by ambulance to the hospital and eventually recovered with oxygen and treatment. But that’s not something parents have to go through, says Chartres.

“One hundred percent, I support vaccines. Anyone who has seen a child struggle like that would agree with me.”

The dream of biotech companies and governments to fund mRNA is a repeat of the extraordinary success of the COVID-19 vaccine. Efficacy rates approach 95%, beating both older protein and newer viral vector technologies.

These rates are not yet fully realized. Moderna’s data for his RSV vaccine is promising, but nothing beats the vaccine GSK and Pfizer are developing using conventional technology.

And mRNA – or messenger ribonucleic acid – comes with a big unknown: How long does it provide protection?

“mRNA vaccines have not performed so well in terms of longevity in COVID. We need to know if this particular vaccine differs,” said the World Health Organization Joint Center for Reference and Research on Influenza. said Professor Ian Burr, Deputy Director of .

Other companies are currently testing mRNA vaccines for influenza, CMV (cytomegalovirus), Zika virus and dengue virus.

These vaccines introduce enemies to train the immune system. This is essentially the same thing as old technology. The next disease on the hit list harnesses the power of mRNA to do things other drugs can’t.

Dr. Paul Burton, Moderna Chief Medical Officer, said:

Loading

In early 2018, a doctor stuck a needle in Pamela Molly’s arm and injected her with a small ampoule of mRNA.

Morey had advanced melanoma, in which cells became cancerous after accumulating clusters of DNA mutations. Despite several surgeries to remove the tumor, the cancer kept coming back.

“They told me they couldn’t guarantee it wouldn’t come back into my lungs and brain. goodbye charlieyou know,” she says.

Weeks before she hit the jab, scientists cut out a chunk of her tumor and sequenced the genetic mutations that lead to cancer. The mRNA contained these genetic codes in trials of what scientists call “personalized cancer vaccines.”

Loading

Combined with another drug that boosts the immune system, the mRNA essentially trained Molly’s immune system to hunt down and kill any tumor cells circulating in her body. The trial showed a 44% reduction in the risk of cancer recurrence or death compared to standard care. Morey has been cancer-free for her three years.

“It’s not a cure for everyone,” says Professor Georgina Long, co-medical director of the Melanoma Institute Australia and one of the trial’s investigators. “But the signal is strong.”

Next to infectious diseases and cancer, rare diseases are likely to attract attention. Here, companies want to take advantage of mRNA’s unique ability to issue genetic instructions.

In December, Vertex announced the initiation of a clinical trial of inhaled mRNA for cystic fibrosis. Hopefully, the vaccine will instruct the lung cells to make new copies of the missing or defective but important proteins.

“Inhaling the mRNA, encoding it in the lungs, and expressing the correct protein is, to me, Star Trek” BASE mRNA Facility at the University of Queensland.

Not all mRNA therapies seek to directly encode genetic information. Based in Melbourne, RAGE Biotech works on molecules that alter the splicing of mRNA in the body, altering the way genes are expressed.

“It’s not changing genes,” says the company’s director, Christopher Wright. “You’re just shifting natural processes in a healthy direction.”

The company hopes to use its technology to reduce the number of inflammatory proteins in the lungs, in hopes of treating lung disease.