mRNA Vaccines and the Future Next Breakthrough Therapies

Deoxyribonucleic acid (abbreviated DNA) is the molecule that carries genetic information which is vital for the evolution, development and functioning of an organism. The DNA was first identified in 1860s. Since 1953, the knowledge and structure of DNA became well-known as a double helix structure. Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a molecule existing in the majority of living organisms and viruses. Further, the Messenger RNA (mRNA) is a type of single-stranded RNA involved in protein synthesis. The mRNA is built from a DNA template during the process of transcription. The mRNA was discovered at the Institut Pasteur in Paris in 1961. Though the knowledge of DNA and RNA now spans for over almost 60 years.

Further, there has been a remarkable progress in life sciences with the knowledge gained from the Human Genome Project paving the way to the unlocking or decoding of life (living) code. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 as a pandemic which rapidly became a global pandemic. This pandemic brought forth an urgent need of for the development of COVID-19 vaccines and emergency use authorizations (EUAs). Given the cost and challenges in developing and producing vaccine therapies, the mRNA research brings a promising future for rapid development of manufacturing process and formulations. The mRNA based vaccines could further lead to revolutionizing the biotechnology and pharmaceuticals industry with breakthrough therapies. With few vaccine therapies already available to tackle the COVID-19, there has been a variety and of more consistent efforts with focus on preclinical development of mRNA therapies.

Next Breakthrough

The regulatory compliance is critical in developing a vaccine while manufacturing, quality controls and achieving efficacy for meeting the requirements for the regulatory authorities and alongside establishing a benchmark per the WHO guidelines and recommendations. Importantly, although there are advances and tremendous progress in mRNA biology and science, there is a continuous need for focus on immunogenicity or immunoreactivity, including ensuring clinical efficacious data, risk/benefits profile assessments and long term safety evaluations for next generation novel, advanced and breakthrough mRNA therapies.