# Moderna
**Moderna, Inc.** is an American biotechnology company headquartered in [Cambridge, Massachusetts](https://www.edgepedia.org/cambridge-massachusetts), that develops medicines built on messenger RNA (mRNA), a molecule that tells cells which proteins to make[1](https://www.modernatx.com/about-us). Founded in 2010 with the chief goal of developing mRNA-based drugs rather than vaccines, it became one of the two makers of the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines that ended the pandemic's acute phase, and it now markets a portfolio of mRNA vaccines while developing therapeutics for cancer and rare disease[2](https://time.com/6080127/crispr-mrna/).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA[1](https://www.modernatx.com/about-us) |
| Founded | 2010, originally to develop mRNA-based drugs[2](https://time.com/6080127/crispr-mrna/) |
| Pipeline size | 35 therapeutic and vaccine programs, 6 in late-stage development, across infectious disease vaccines, oncology, and rare disease therapeutics[4](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1682852/000168285226000033/mrna-20251231.htm) |
| COVID-19 vaccine efficacy | 94.5% efficacy announced for the vaccine candidate in November 2020[5](https://as.com/diarioas/2020/11/16/actualidad/1605537007_961660.html) |
| Early financing | Valued at $3 billion by venture capitalists in early 2015 as the first biotech unicorn; later the largest-ever IPO for a development-stage biotech[6](https://www.axios.com/2020/03/17/moderna-coronavirus-vaccine-trial) |
| Sustainability pledge | Net-zero carbon emissions by 2030 for Scopes 1 & 2 and by 2045 for Scope 3[1](https://www.modernatx.com/about-us) |
## The mRNA platform
Moderna's products all follow the same design logic. Each medicine starts with a protein chosen to prevent or treat a disease; scientists then design an mRNA carrying the instructions for that protein, and the same process is repeated for other targets[7](https://www.modernatx.com/power-of-mrna/modernas-mrna-platform). The company describes its research engine as a combination of proprietary digital drug design tools and a highly automated production facility: its web-based mRNA DESIGN STUDIO tailors an entire mRNA from the 5'-UTR through the coding region to the 3'-UTR, and a high-throughput pre-clinical production facility delivers manufactured mRNA constructs in weeks[7](https://www.modernatx.com/power-of-mrna/modernas-mrna-platform).
The platform's scientific foundation rests on work by [Katalin Karikó](https://www.edgepedia.org/katalin-kariko) and [Drew Weissman](https://www.edgepedia.org/drew-weissman), who showed in 2005 that modifying nucleosides in mRNA could significantly reduce the immune response to the molecule itself, making therapeutic use viable[8](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11510967/). Delivery depends on lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), fatty carriers that protect mRNA from degradation and promote cellular uptake and cytoplasmic delivery; Moderna's [COVID-19 vaccine](https://www.edgepedia.org/covid-19-vaccine) uses an LNP built around the ionizable lipid SM-102[9](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42804114/) • [10](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1773224726006118).
## COVID-19 vaccines
When the genetic sequence of [SARS-CoV-2](https://www.edgepedia.org/sars-cov-2) became available in early 2020, Moderna prepared its vaccine recipe within 48 hours, building on prior work that had identified the coronavirus spike protein as a vaccine target[11](https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2023/01/science-technology-vaccine-invention-history/672227/) • [12](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-117hhrg45576/pdf/CHRG-117hhrg45576.pdf). The candidate, mRNA-1273, announced 94.5% efficacy in November 2020 and received a U.S. Emergency Use Authorization in December 2020 for people aged 18 and older[5](https://as.com/diarioas/2020/11/16/actualidad/1605537007_961660.html) • [13](https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/pdfs/mm7038e1-H.pdf). It was later granted full approval as Spikevax[14](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13473061/).
Observational studies found the two-dose Moderna regimen 93% effective against COVID-19 hospitalization as of mid-August 2021, compared with 88% for the two-dose Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and 71% for the single-dose [Johnson & Johnson](https://www.edgepedia.org/johnson-and-johnson) vaccine[15](https://time.com/7366137/how-we-tracked-covid-updates/). The higher effectiveness over time has been attributed in part to Moderna's higher dose, which also produces more frequent mild side effects such as fever[16](https://time.com/6190753/covid-19-vaccine-kids-pfizer-or-moderna/).
Moderna's second COVID vaccine, mNEXSPIKE, was approved by the FDA in May 2025 for individuals 65 and older and for those 12 through 64 at high risk of severe COVID-19.
## Pipeline beyond COVID-19
The company's development pipeline consists of 35 programs, 6 of them in late-stage development, organized in three franchises: infectious disease vaccines, oncology therapeutics, and rare disease therapeutics[4](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1682852/000168285226000033/mrna-20251231.htm).
**Respiratory vaccines.** A flu plus COVID combination vaccine, mCOMBRIAX, has reached commercial status, and a pandemic flu vaccine developed with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) is in Phase 3[3](https://www.modernatx.com/research/product-pipeline).
**Latent and other vaccines.** Later-stage candidates include a Phase 3 norovirus vaccine (mRNA-1403), Phase 2 programs for cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr virus, [Lyme disease](https://www.edgepedia.org/lyme-disease), and mpox, and Phase 1 HIV and Nipah vaccines[3](https://www.modernatx.com/research/product-pipeline).
**Oncology.** The lead oncology program is intismeran autogene (mRNA-4157), a personalized cancer vaccine developed in partnership with Merck, in Phase 3 trials for adjuvant melanoma and several non-small cell lung cancer settings[3](https://www.modernatx.com/research/product-pipeline). The wholly owned cancer antigen therapy mRNA-4359 is in Phase 2 for advanced solid tumors[3](https://www.modernatx.com/research/product-pipeline).
**Rare disease.** Phase 2 programs target propionic acidemia (mRNA-3927) and methylmalonic acidemia (mRNA-3705), inborn errors of metabolism[3](https://www.modernatx.com/research/product-pipeline).
## Company history and business
Moderna was the first biotech unicorn, valued by venture capitalists at $3 billion in early 2015, before going public in the largest-ever IPO for a development-stage biotech[6](https://www.axios.com/2020/03/17/moderna-coronavirus-vaccine-trial). Its co-founder Kenneth Chien, a senior professor of cardiology research at Sweden's Karolinska Institutet, has noted that the company's original goal was mRNA drugs, not vaccines[2](https://time.com/6080127/crispr-mrna/).
During the pandemic, Moderna did not agree to transfer its vaccine-making technology to South African efforts for producing shots in low-income countries; consequently, researchers at Afrigen, a South African biotech in [Cape Town](https://www.edgepedia.org/cape-town), developed their vaccine independently, starting from scratch, producing the first small batch of their own version of Moderna's mRNA vaccine in February 2022, nearly eight months after announcing the intention[18](https://time.com/6155934/moderna-covid-19-vaccine-patent/).
## Safety and limitations of the technology
mRNA-LNP vaccines enabled the rapid development and administration of billions of COVID-19 vaccine doses worldwide, but the platform carries documented concerns. [Lipid nanoparticle](https://www.edgepedia.org/lipid-nanoparticle) structural components, production methods, route of administration, and the proteins produced from the delivered mRNAs all present toxicity considerations, and challenges remain in formulation stability, long-term storage, reactogenicity (expected inflammatory side effects like fever after vaccination), and the durability of immune protection[19](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38263456/) • [9](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42804114/). Reviews also note inadequate understanding of the long-term immunogenicity of LNPs[8](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11510967/).
## References
1. [Our Mission & Values, Moderna](https://www.modernatx.com/about-us)
2. [MRNA's Next Chapter Has Nothing to Do With COVID-19 Vaccines, Time](https://time.com/6080127/crispr-mrna/)
3. [mRNA medicines we are currently developing, Moderna product pipeline](https://www.modernatx.com/research/product-pipeline)
4. [Moderna Form 10-K (mrna-20251231), SEC](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1682852/000168285226000033/mrna-20251231.htm)
5. [Vacuna Moderna: de qué país es la empresa, quién es el dueño y cotización en bolsa, Diario AS](https://as.com/diarioas/2020/11/16/actualidad/1605537007_961660.html)
6. [The company leading the race to a coronavirus vaccine, Axios](https://www.axios.com/2020/03/17/moderna-coronavirus-vaccine-trial)
7. [Moderna's mRNA Platform, Moderna](https://www.modernatx.com/power-of-mrna/modernas-mrna-platform)
8. [Recent Advances in Lipid Nanoparticles and Their Safety Concerns for mRNA Delivery, PMC](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11510967/)
9. [mRNA lipid nanoparticle vaccines: current status, challenges and future prospects, PubMed](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42804114/)
10. [Lipid nanoparticles as a platform technology for translational nanomedicine, ScienceDirect](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1773224726006118)
11. [Why the Age of American Progress Ended, The Atlantic](https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2023/01/science-technology-vaccine-invention-history/672227/)
12. [Moderna Used its mRNA Platform to Create an Effective COVID-19 Vaccine, govinfo](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-117hhrg45576/pdf/CHRG-117hhrg45576.pdf)
13. [Comparative Effectiveness of Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech, and Janssen Vaccines, CDC MMWR](https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/pdfs/mm7038e1-H.pdf)
14. [Critical CMC considerations for mRNA lipid nanoparticle translation, PMC](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13473061/)
15. [How we tracked Covid updates, Time](https://time.com/7366137/how-we-tracked-covid-updates/)
16. [Which COVID-19 Vaccine Should Your Young Kid Get?, Time](https://time.com/6190753/covid-19-vaccine-kids-pfizer-or-moderna/)
17. [2026 Moderna NPS (proxy statement), SEC](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1682852/000130817926000081/mrna-courtesy-pdf.pdf)
18. [Moderna Is Sharing Its Vaccine Technology With Low-Income Countries, Time](https://time.com/6155934/moderna-covid-19-vaccine-patent/)
19. [Strategies to reduce the risks of mRNA drug and vaccine toxicity, PubMed](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38263456/)
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