Topline
Vaccine maker Moderna and computing giant IBM are teaming up to explore how quantum computing and artificial intelligence can develop future mRNA medicines, both companies announced on Thursday, as digital tech promises to accelerate scientific research and transform healthcare.
Moderna has partnered with IBM to develop new medicines.
Key Facts
Moderna said the deal will help the company “explore next generation technologies” like artificial intelligence and quantum computing to advance and accelerate its mRNA research.
mRNA, or messenger RNA, are a group of small molecules that shuttle genetic information from the DNA in cells to cellular machinery that makes proteins, a process companies like Moderna are trying to exploit to create new drugs and vaccines.
Darío Gil, senior vice president and director of IBM Research, said the AI systems will help scientists gain a better understanding of “how molecules behave” and could even help create completely new ones.
Moderna said the collaboration will focus on optimizing its lipid nanoparticles, the fatty bubbles used to deliver mRNA to its target in the body.
Quantum computers are built using a very different set of physical principles to classical computers and can perform tasks they are unable to do or at a much greater speed.
Crucial Quote
Moderna chief executive Stéphane Bancel said the company is “aiming for breakthrough advances with quantum computing” and is investing now to build a “quantum-ready workforce.”
Key Background
While the prospect of using easily-tweaked and custom-made mRNA to recruit the body’s cells as miniature drug factories has long captivated scientists, making this vision reality has proven almost impossibly difficult. After struggling for decades to produce a viable product, many dismiss the technology as an unachievable pipe dream. Moderna is an mRNA specialist, struggling for years to commercialize the technology before finally striking gold during the Covid-19 pandemic. Moderna’s shot, hot on the heels of the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine and its only product to reach market, was the second mRNA product to receive full FDA approval in the U.S. Major pharma companies are now investing heavily in the technology.
What To Watch For
Moderna, conscious of an impending drop in sales from Covid vaccines, is working on a host of mRNA products. Its pipeline includes numerous vaccines against infectious diseases like Lyme, norovirus, flu, HIV, Zika, RSV and cytomegalovirus, as well as developing mRNA therapies for genetic diseases and vaccines for cancer. Moderna has said it expects six “major vaccine” launches in the “next few years” and plans to seek regulatory approval for its latest RSV vaccine this quarter.
Further Reading
Moderna Hopes To Build On mRNA Tech Used In Its Covid Shots—By Targeting Genetic Diseases (Forbes)
Covid’s Forgotten Hero: The Untold Story Of The Scientist Whose Breakthrough Made The Vaccines Possible (Forbes)
The story of mRNA: How a once-dismissed idea became a leading technology in the Covid vaccine race (STAT)