After successfully producing a Covid-19 vaccine with a high efficacy rate,  Moderna has announced that it’s kicked off new vaccine programs for three diseases: seasonal Flu, Nipah Virus, and the HIV virus. 

The three new vaccine programs will be based on the relatively newer Messenger RNA (mRNA) system, which Moderna successfully harnessed to develop its Covid-19 vaccine. 

In basic terms, mRNA is the molecule that essentially puts DNA instructions into action. Unline traditional vaccines that work by training the body to recognize and respond to the proteins produced by disease-causing organisms, mRNA vaccines work by tricking the body into producing some of the viral proteins itself, the proteins being solitary and not able to assemble to form a virus. The immune system then detects these viral proteins and begin to produce a defensive response to them.

With a successful application on the coronavirus disease, Moderna is apparently looking to replicate that success on the seasonal flu and the Nipah and HIV viruses. Notably, there exists no Nipah virus and HIV virus vaccines that have been put into use so Moderna is aiming to get a breakthrough there.

Possibly, Moderna could be up to success with its new vaccine programs, with the HIV and Nipah virus being diseases that have plagued many but without any successful vaccine developed yet for them. In a case where Moderna successfully develops a vaccine for both viruses, it’ll mark its place in history.

As to seasonal flu, vaccines aren’t new to being developed in this area so Moderna seems to have a higher chance of success there. The company’s flu vaccine program will cover four seasonal viruses recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).

With its newly announced vaccine programs, Moderna now has one commercial medicine (its Covid-19 vaccine) and 24 development programs in its pipeline.

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