Moderna has developed a new mRNA shot meant to treat patients who suffered heart failure, according to CEO Stéphane Bancel. Speaking to the Business Weekend podcast on Sky News in October that is now recirculating on social media, Bancel boasted of a new experimental program where patients’ hearts are injected with mRNA.
“We are now in a super exciting program where we inject mRNA in people’s heart after a heart attack to grow back new blood vessels and re-vascularize the heart,” Bancel said. “It’s like science fiction medicine.” The Sky News reporter pointed out Moderna’s research investments were only made possible due to massive profits it made from the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine.
“That’s the irony of COVID, is it really has in some ways allowed you to go and develop these other areas because of the revenues that came through the door,” he said. Bancel replied, “You’re 100% right.” A business update from Moderna released Monday outlining several mRNA projects details the mRNA technology behind its new heart attack vaccine. From a Moderna’s recent business update:
mRNA-0184 encodes for relaxin, a naturally occurring hormone that is known to cause hemodynamic changes that are potentially beneficial for heart failure patients. The mRNA sequence of mRNA-0184 is engineered to instruct the body to produce relaxin with an extended half-life, with the goal of producing a sustained clinical benefit in heart failure patients – this longer half-life may result in more durable effects compared to previous approaches.