Messenger RNA vaccines could revolutionize the fight against cancer. In any case, this is what the preliminary announcements from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna suggest on the effectiveness and safety of their vaccines against Covid-19. Promising technology, not just for this virus.
Messenger RNA, an innovative technology
In a press release published on November 9, Pfizer / BioNTech announced that its messenger RNA vaccine was 90% effective against SARS-CoV-2. The vaccination campaign started in the United Kingdom a week ago and a few days ago in the United States. The laboratories plan to produce 50 million doses before the end of December 2020. Moderna is awaiting approval from the European authorities on January 12. Messenger RNA technology aims to train the immune system to recognize and destroy the virus. Concretely, where classic vaccination consists of injecting an inactivated virus into the body so that it can learn to defend itself against it, the messenger RNA vaccine sends a genetic message to the body to trigger an immune response.
Treat cancer and other conditions
In an article published on December 13 by Bloomberg, Derrick Rossi, one of the founders of Moderna of which he is no longer a part, said “we are entering the age of messenger RNA therapy”. Before specifying “The whole world saw what happened. Investments and resources will multiply ”. However, messenger RNA is not new, scientists have been looking at this technology for many years. The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated research thanks to the billions invested by governments around the world. But if SARS-CoV-2 is the first application of this technique, it could be used to treat other diseases in the future. According to Ugur Sahin, CEO of Moderna, the first cancer treatments based on messenger RNA could see the light of day within two or three years. Thanks to this technique, the body would be able to directly destroy cancer cells, unlike chemotherapy, which also attacks healthy cells. But that’s not all ! Messenger RNA could also be used to treat HIV, certain heart and genetic diseases.
