Merck & Co inks discovery and development deal with Moderna

Privately-held Moderna Therapeutics has entered into a license and collaboration agreement with US pharma giant Merck & Co (NYSE: MRK) for the discovery and development of vaccines and passive immunity treatments against viral diseases using modified messenger RNA (mRNA).

Moderna is a pioneer in the development of mRNA therapeutics across a range of therapeutic applications. Moderna's work in the collaboration will be led by Valera, its venture focused on the development of mRNA vaccines and therapeutics to fight infectious disease.

The vaccines work of Valera builds on a body of preclinical research at Moderna showing the ability of modified mRNA to express viral antigens in vivo and to induce robust immune responses. Valera's therapeutic passive immunity programs will expand on Moderna's research using mRNA to express antibodies that bind to viral and other targets. The robust data in these programs across a range of preclinical infectious disease models, together with the inherent, rapid turn-around time in creating novel mRNA constructs, provide Valera with a potentially powerful and versatile new platform for the creation of a broad array of vaccines and passive immunity therapies.