Their worst fears are starting to come true, according to executives and investors involved with companies that develop and sell vaccines and the mRNA technology that is best known for the Covid vaccines.
“There will be less invention, investment and innovation in vaccines generally, across all the companies,” said Moderna president Dr. Stephen Hoge.
The Trump administration said it was not discouraging innovation. But investors won't invest in something that Bob Kennedy is disparaging. Major manufacturers are reporting declining sales of their shots. Smaller companies are taking the brunt of the impact.
Vaccine maker Moderna has been hit harder by the federal policy changes than any other pharmaceutical firm. Kennedy keeps questioning the safety and effectiveness of the technology around which the company has built its business. The technology, known as messenger RNA, or mRNA, instructs the body to produce a fragment of a virus that then sets off an immune response. Its main benefit? It can be more quickly tailored and manufactured compared to traditional vaccine development.
And it was the kiss of death last week when the Food and Drug Administration refused to review Moderna’s mRNA flu vaccine. They claim the research design was flawed.
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