Experts predict that a groundbreaking set of new vaccines, targeting cancer, cardiovascular and autoimmune diseases, and other conditions, could save millions of lives.
A leading pharmaceutical company believes that these vaccines will be available by 2030 and studies have shown “tremendous promise,” with researchers reporting accelerated progress thanks to the success of the Covid vaccine.
The chief medical officer of Moderna, the pharmaceutical company responsible for a leading Covid vaccine, anticipates that the company will be able to offer treatments for various disease areas in as little as five years. Moderna is developing cancer vaccines that target different tumour types, and multiple respiratory infections could be covered by a single injection, protecting vulnerable people against Covid, flu, and respiratory syncytial virus. An mRNA-based cancer vaccine would alert the immune system to cancer cells, so it can attack and destroy them without destroying healthy cells.
The process involves identifying mutations that aren’t present in healthy cells, learning which parts of abnormal proteins these mutations encode are most likely to trigger an immune response, and manufacturing mRNAs for the most promising antigens into a personalized vaccine.
