The emergency use authorizations and subsequent regulatory approvals of the Pfizer–BioNTech BNT162b2 and Moderna mRNA-1273 SARS-CoV-2 vaccines in 2020 and 2021 validated messenger RNA (mRNA) as a therapeutic platform, but the scientific investment enabling those vaccines predates the COVID-19 pandemic by decades.1-2 As of a recent pipeline analysis, 244 mRNA vaccine and therapeutic candidates are in development, spanning 23 communicable diseases and 69 non-communicable diseases, including 102 oncology-focused candidates. The majority (93%) of these candidates remain in early-stage clinical development, with 12 having advanced to late-stage trials.3 What follows are 6 developments researchers and manufacturers should understand as the mRNA platform matures into a broad therapeutic modality.
