Moderna starts human trial for mRNA flu vaccine

The human study of the vaccine will be conducted on healthy adults aged 18 years and above in the United States.

US biotech firm Moderna said Wednesday it had dosed its first participants in a human study of an mRNA vaccine that targets multiple strains of influenza.

The biotech company announced on July 7 that it has dosed the first participants in the human trial of mRNA-1010. For the human trial, the company has planned to recruit about 180 participants from the United States.

The pharmaceutical firm Moderna is developing an mRNA-1010 vaccine recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) for the prevention of influenza, including seasonal influenza A H1N1, H3N2 and influenza B Yamagata and Victoria.

The human study of the vaccine will be conducted on healthy adults aged 18 years and above in the United States.

"We expect that our seasonal influenza vaccine candidates will be an important component of our future combination respiratory vaccines," said CEO Stephane Bancel in a statement.

The majority of current flu vaccines are based on inactivated viruses cultivated in chicken eggs.

The company is hoping to improve on traditional flu shots which are typically about 40% to 60% effective.

Moderna hopes mRNA technology, which provokes an immune response by delivering genetic molecules containing the code for key parts of a pathogen into human cells, can accelerate development and increase scalability.

The company hopes that the mRNA technology, which is used to create an immune response by delivering genetic molecules that contain the code for key cellular components of a pathogen, can accelerate development and increase scalability.

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