mRNA vaccines are now fighting the flu

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Moderna vaccines are prepared for application at the United States Military Vaccination Center at Camp Foster on April 28, 2021 in Ginowan, Japan Photo: Carl Kurt (Getty Images)

The mRNA-based vaccines, first used in covid-19, may protect people soon from the influenza virus, too. Moderna Corporation this week announced the start of a Phase I/II trial to test its seasonal influenza vaccine candidate. Ultimately, the company hopes to develop a combination vaccine that can provide protection against influenza, COVID-19, and other common respiratory viruses at the same time.

According to the Massachusetts-based company, the first volunteers were given an experimental flu vaccine on Wednesday, called mRNA-1010. Like other seasonal flu vaccines, it aims to prevent illness from four types of influenza that are expected to spread widely during the season, including two subtypes of influenza A and two strains of influenza B. The trial will include 180 participants in a single randomized trial. A blinded study where volunteers will receive varying doses of the vaccine.

Moderna, which is now known to develop one of two mRNA vaccines for the COVID-19 virus that are widely available in the United States, was not the first company to move forward with an mRNA candidate for influenza. In late June, Sanofi and Translate Bio became the first to jointly begin their phase 1 trial, with plans to achieve early results by the end of 2021. Pfizer, co-developers of another covid-19 mRNA vaccine, is expected to enter The circuit is also close.

Moderna and Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccines have exceeded expectations, providing over 90% protection against illness caused by viral diseases and providing greater protection against serious illness and death. Vaccines are the first mRNA vaccines to successfully reach the public, although the technology behind them has been in the works for decades. And it’s likely only a formality before countries like the US approve it for covid-19 (all covid-19 vaccines in the US have been released to the public on an emergency use basis).

These vaccines have proven to be more effective against covid-19 than the other shots (some, such as Novavax and Cuba’s Abdala version, appear to be already close). So the hope is that the mRNA platform will also improve upon the decent but not great performance of current influenza vaccines, which range in efficacy between 40% to 60% in any given year. This improvement may come from the increased immune response to influenza that mRNA vaccines elicit, compared to other vaccines, but could also come from their greater adaptability.

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Scientists are doing their best to predict which strains will circulate in the upcoming flu season months in advance. Predicted viruses are usually grown in a laboratory or inside chicken eggs and used as the basis for that year’s vaccine (the virus included in the vaccination is either dead or weakened but live). But wild flu strains can mutate quickly enough to create a mismatch between the vaccine and the circulating virus by the time the vaccines reach the public, while the egg method can force the emerging virus to mutate differently than the wild flu.

On the other hand, mRNA vaccines work by encoding instructions to create a piece of the virus in an mRNA bundle that is introduced into the body’s cells, which then allows these cells to produce the piece themselves, triggering an immune response. The process of creating these instructions can take less time than other conventional vaccines, allowing the difference between predicting strains and producing shots and getting them to the public to be reduced. Ideally, they could also be updated faster if needed (Moderna and Pfizer both developed and tested booster snapshots for new variants of covid-19, although they don’t seem to be needed yet).

The tantalizing potential of influenza mRNA vaccines must be confirmed in clinical trials before we can be certain of anything. But while Moderna may not have been the first out of the gate, its end goals are certainly lofty. The company hopes to one day make a combined mRNA vaccine for influenza, covid-19, two common and sometimes serious respiratory diseases caused by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and human metapinomaviruses.

“Our vision is to develop a combined mRNA vaccine so that people can have one injection every fall for highly effective protection against the most problematic respiratory viruses,” said Stéphane Bancel, CEO of Moderna, in the company announcement.

There are more potential uses being studied as well. Last month, scientists reported early success in mice with an mRNA vaccine for measles, one of the world’s deadliest diseases.

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