Latest news with #mRNA
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
Startling immune hack that makes tumors disappear could unlock a universal cancer vaccine
Scientists may be one step closer to a universal cancer vaccine that could revolutionize how the disease is treated. The vaccine uses mRNA, messenger RNA, the same technology behind the COVID-19 vaccines, which carries instructions for cells to produce specific proteins. However, instead of directing cells to make a protein that triggers an immune response, researchers at the University of Florida used mRNA that acts as a red flag itself, immediately alerting the immune system and prompting a reaction. In their study, mice implanted with human melanoma tumors were treated with the mRNA vaccine alongside immunotherapy drugs, medications designed to harness and boost the immune system, once a week for three weeks. The combination helped immune cells recognize and attack the cancer, leading to tumor shrinkage and, in some cases, complete disappearance. All untreated mice died within 50 days, but among those that received the vaccine and immunotherapy, every mouse survived at least 60 days, and more than half were still alive at day 100 when the experiment ended. The research remains in its early stages and has not yet been tested in humans, but scientists said it offers a promising glimpse into a future where chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery may no longer be necessary in the fight against cancer. Dr Elias Sayor, a pediatric oncologist which led the research, said: 'This paper describes a very unexpected and exciting observation: That even a vaccine not specific to any particular tumor or virus could lead to tumor-specific effects. 'This finding is proof of concept that these vaccines potentially could be commercialized as universal cancer vaccines that might sensitize the immune system against a patient's individual tumor,' she continued. Scientists consider developing a cancer vaccine, targeting one of the leading causes of death, to be a 'holy grail' of medical breakthroughs. There are currently two main approaches in cancer vaccine development, including identifying a common target found in many patients with a particular cancer, or creating a personalized vaccine tailored to an individual's specific tumor. However, the team behind this new research believes their study introduces a promising third approach, one that focuses on stimulating a powerful immune response rather than targeting cancer directly. Dr Duane Mitchell, a neurosurgeon and co-author of the study, explained: 'What we found is by using a vaccine designed not to target cancer specifically, but rather to stimulate a strong immunologic response, we could elicit a very strong anti-cancer reaction. 'This has significant potential to be broadly used across cancer patients, even possibly leading us to an off-the-shelf cancer vaccine.' Each year, about 104,000 Americans are diagnosed with melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. When caught early, it's often treatable, but if the cancer spreads, the five-year survival rate drops to just 34 percent. In the study, scientists used mRNA derived from mitochondria, the energy-producing structures within cells, which can also trigger a rapid immune response. The researchers tested their new vaccine on several types of cancer in mice, including skin, bone, and brain cancers, and found that in many cases, the tumors shrank or disappeared entirely following treatment. Dr. Elias Sayour, a pediatric oncologist and lead investigator, suggested the vaccine may help activate T cells, immune cells responsible for detecting and destroying threats, which previously failed to respond, prompting them to multiply and attack cancerous cells. Dr. Duane Mitchell added: 'It could potentially be a universal way of waking up a patient's own immune response to cancer. And that would be profound if generalizable to human studies.' While the vaccine is still likely years away from clinical use, the team says they are actively working to advance it into human trials. The research was published in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering.
Fast Company
a day ago
- Science
- Fast Company
How IBM and Moderna's partnership could lead to an explosion in drug development
IBM: International Business Machines, or 'Incredible Breakthroughs in Medicine'? IBM may need to tweak its moniker in light of recent news, because its recent work in quantum computing, in partnership with Moderna, could lead to potentially explosive breakthroughs in the medical field. The companies' recently published research showed 'promise' using a combination of both quantum and classical computers to 'predict mRNA secondary structures,' which may make it easier to develop and design new mRNA-based medicines and treatments. Until now, this wasn't possible due to the amount of computing power needed to calculate potential complex interactions at a molecular level. But quantum computing, which is being used in similar ways such as materials design, is giving scientists the extra computational firepower they need to do it. The results? More, better drugs, developed on much shorter time frames. 'One of the biggest challenges when identifying the best candidates for mRNA-based medicines is determining how they will instruct mRNA to fold in the body—a challenging optimization problem that gets harder and harder to solve for larger mRNA sequences, ultimately pushing the limits of even the most advanced classical computers,' says Sarah Sheldon, Senior Manager of Applied Quantum Science at IBM. 'By applying an approach that leverages the strengths of both quantum and classical computing, the Moderna and IBM team has set a new record in the scale of mRNA structure problems that quantum computers are able to solve.' In effect, utilizing quantum computers on a large scale 'could transform life sciences,' she says. 'Quantum computing holds the promise to help streamline the design of new medicines, while reducing the time and cost scales of bringing new therapies to market,' explains Sheldon. 'As quantum computers continue to expand their computational power and new algorithms emerge, they could accelerate drug discovery and enable more precise and effective medicines.' While that's obviously exciting news, it's worth noting that some in the tech field have tried to throw cold water on the hubbub surrounding quantum computing. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, for instance, said earlier this year that he thought quantum computers were still decades away—a notion that was rejected by others in the space. Some companies already do have commercially available quantum computers on the market, and others are working on their own, such as IBM. One thing we do know, at this point, is that the promise of quantum computing, when pointed at existing research bottlenecks, has many researchers excited. 'We're already seeing promising early results,' says Sheldon. 'We expect to make meaningful progress with our partners across global industries to scale algorithms capable of running increasingly more complex quantum circuits with greater accuracy—a critical step toward realizing practical and industry-relevant applications in fields such as life sciences, materials, chemistry, optimization, and more.'
Reuters
2 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Moderna cancels plans to build Japan plant on poor business environment
July 18 (Reuters) - Moderna (MRNA.O), opens new tab said on Friday it is cancelling plans to build a messenger RNA manufacturing plant in Japan due to "changes in the business environment" around the world and in Japan.
Fox News
5 days ago
- Health
- Fox News
Scientists crack the code on new vaccine for deadly plague bacteria
Print Close By Melissa Rudy Published July 15, 2025 Israeli researchers have developed a new vaccine that is "100% effective" against a bacteria that is deadly to humans. The announcement came from Tel Aviv University, which teamed up with the Israel Institute for Biological Research to create the mRNA-based vaccine, which is the first to protect against bacteria. "In the study, we show that our mRNA vaccine provides 100% protection against pneumonic plague (a severe lung infection), which is considered the most dangerous form of the disease," study co-lead Professor Dan Peer, director of the Laboratory of Precision NanoMedicine at Tel Aviv University, told Fox News Digital. ARIZONA RESIDENT DIES OF PNEUMONIC PLAGUE, THE FIRST DEADLY CASE IN AREA IN NEARLY 20 YEARS "Yersinia pestis, the causative agent of plague, is considered a highly lethal infectious bacterium, against which no approved vaccine exists." This bacterium is so lethal, even at small doses, that it has been classified as a "Tier 1 select agent" by the CDC and is considered a "potential bioterror weapon," according to Peer. "Several natural local outbreaks have been recorded in the past few years, indicating that Y. pestis still poses a risk to the human population," he noted. The researchers tested the novel mRNA vaccine in animals infected with the bacteria, a university press release stated. BUBONIC PLAGUE IN THE US: DO YOU NEED TO WORRY ABOUT CATCHING THE RODENT-BORNE DISEASE? "Within a week, all unvaccinated animals died, while those vaccinated with our vaccine remained alive and well," the team reported, noting that a single dose provided full protection after two weeks. The findings were published in the journal Science Advances. "Our mRNA vaccine provides 100% protection against pneumonic plague, which is considered the most dangerous form of the disease." Before this study, mRNA vaccines were only shown to protect against viruses, such as COVID-19, but not bacteria, according to Tel Aviv University's Dr. Edo Kon, who co-led the study. "Until now, scientists believed that mRNA vaccines against bacteria were biologically unattainable," said Kon in the announcement. "In our study, we proved that it is, in fact, possible to develop mRNA vaccines that are 100% effective against deadly bacteria." While vaccines for viruses trigger human cells to produce viral proteins, which then train the immune system to protect against them, that same method hasn't been effective for bacteria. Instead, the scientists used a different method to release bacterial proteins that successfully created a "significant immune response." "To enhance the bacterial protein's stability and make sure that it does not disintegrate too quickly inside the body, we buttressed it with a section of human protein," they wrote. "By combining the two breakthrough strategies, we obtained a full immune response." Dr. Jacob Glanville, CEO of Centivax, a San Francisco biotechnology company, reiterated the importance of the study. "This is distinct from research in coronavirus, influenza and cancer, which have so far been driving mRNA vaccine applications," Glanville, who was not part of the research team, told Fox News Digital. The study shows how mRNA technologies can be rapidly applied to "novel threat areas," he confirmed. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP "Following blowback from the mandates and rare but admittedly problematic side effects related to initial COVID-19 vaccines, mRNA as a platform has faced additional scrutiny to make sure that the next generation of vaccines to emerge from it has learned the lessons from the initial vaccines, and improved upon them," Glanville told Fox News Digital. "This research demonstrates yet another large application area for the technology." Potential limitations The primary limitation of the study, according to Peer, is that the vaccine's effectiveness was shown in mice. "As with any pre-clinical study, it needs to be evaluated in a clinical study in order to assess its effectiveness in humans," he told Fox News Digital. In addition, the experimental mRNA vaccine is based on the "lipid nanoparticle (LNP) mRNA vaccine platform" that was recently approved for COVID-19 vaccines, Peer noted, which requires "cold chain logistics" (a supply chain that uses refrigeration). "Nevertheless, extensive studies are performed in our lab, focusing on lipid formulation stability optimization that will enable room-temperature storage," the researcher added. Looking ahead The goal is for this new technology to fast-track vaccines for bacterial diseases, according to the researchers. This could be particularly beneficial for pathogenic (disease-causing) and antibiotic-resistant bacteria. "If tomorrow we face some kind of bacterial pandemic, our study will provide a pathway for quickly developing safe and effective mRNA vaccines." "Due to excessive use of antibiotics over the last few decades, many bacteria have developed resistance to antibiotics, reducing the effectiveness of these important drugs," said Peer. "Consequently, antibiotic-resistant bacteria already pose a real threat to human health worldwide. Developing a new type of vaccine may provide an answer to this global problem." CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR HEALTH NEWSLETTER As Peer pointed out, the quick development of the COVID-19 vaccine was based on years of mRNA research for similar viruses. "If tomorrow we face some kind of bacterial pandemic, our study will provide a pathway for quickly developing safe and effective mRNA vaccines." As this was a pre-clinical proof-of-concept study, Peer noted that several major milestones still need to be fulfilled before this vaccine could be considered for commercial rollout. However, he believes that in an emergency situation, the vaccine could be scaled up and prepared in a "relatively short time." For more Health articles, visit Peer concluded, "Beyond addressing the threat of plague outbreaks and potential bioterrorism, this study opens the door to developing mRNA vaccines against other antibiotic-resistant bacteria, offering a powerful new strategy to combat rising antimicrobial resistance and improve global pandemic preparedness." The study was supported by the European Research Council, the Israel Institute for Biological Research and the Shmunis Family Foundation. Print Close URL
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
What to Expect From Moderna's Next Quarterly Earnings Report
Valued at $13 billion by market cap, Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Moderna, Inc. (MRNA) operates as a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company. It focuses on discovering and developing messenger RNA (mRNA)- based therapies and vaccines for the treatment of autoimmune conditions, infectious diseases, immuno-oncology, rare diseases, and cardiovascular diseases. The healthcare major is expected to announce its second-quarter results on Thursday, Aug. 7. Ahead of the event, analysts expect Moderna to deliver a loss of $2.97 per share, 10.8% less than $3.33 per share loss reported in the year-ago quarter. On a positive note, the company has surpassed the Street's bottom-line estimates in each of the past four quarters. Shopify Stock is a Bargain - How to Make a 3.2% One-Month Yield with SHOP Tariffs, Inflation and Other Key Things to Watch this Week Get exclusive insights with the FREE Barchart Brief newsletter. Subscribe now for quick, incisive midday market analysis you won't find anywhere else. For the full fiscal 2025, analysts expect the company to report a loss of $9.81 per share, 10.6% more than $8.87 per share loss in 2024. While in fiscal 2026, its losses are expected to reduce by 29.4% year-over-year to $6.93 per share. MRNA stock has plummeted 72.6% over the past 52 weeks, significantly lagging behind the S&P 500 Index's ($SPX) 12.1% gains and the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund's (XLV) 8.3% decline during the same time frame. Moderna's stock soared to an all-time high of $497.49 back in August 2021, driven by increased demand for its COVID-19 vaccines. However, since then, the stock has continued to erode investors' wealth. Its stock fell 5.3% following the release of its mixed Q1 2025 results on May 1. The company reported revenue of $108 million, down 35.3% year-over-year, missing the Wall Street expectations of $127 million. The revenue decline was primarily due to a decrease in net product sales, resulting from lower vaccination rates compared to the same period last year. Meanwhile, its bottom line came in at a loss of $2.52 per share, slightly better than Street expectations. The stock has a consensus 'Hold' rating overall. Of the 26 analysts covering the stock, opinions include three 'Strong Buys,' 19 'Holds,' one 'Moderate Sell,' and three 'Strong Sells.' As of writing, the stock is trading notably below its mean price target of $42.86. On the date of publication, Aditya Sarawgi did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on
