Trial settles debate over best design for mRNA in COVID vaccines
The biggest defender of ‘unmodified’ mRNA for vaccines against infectious disease has a change of heart.
It’s only a small chemical tweak, but it has triggered huge division in the mRNA research community.
Proponents argue that a simple chemical modification to the backbone of mRNA is crucial to the success of mRNA vaccines, allowing them to trigger a potent immune response without massive side effects.
Exhibit A: the blockbuster COVID-19 vaccines made by Pfizer–BioNTech and Moderna, both of which have this modification. But some mRNA manufacturers have long held that unmodified mRNA elicits a superior immune response to pathogens — a rift with implications for mRNA vaccine development.
Now the biggest champion of the unmodified approach has changed its tune. CureVac — which is one of the world’s oldest mRNA specialty companies and is based in Tübingen, Germany — is ditching unmodified mRNA, and embracing the modified version for its entire infectious-disease vaccine portfolio after disappointing results from COVID-19 vaccine trials.
Continue reading at Nature.
