The U.S. continues to stray farther away from the global health consensus.
What happened: Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s U.S. health department plans to pull US$500 million of mRNA research funding. It will affect 22 projects led by pharma giants like Pfizer and Moderna focused on developing vaccines for bird flu, COVID-19, and other illnesses.
- RFK Jr. claimed that mRNA vaxes fail to protect against upper respiratory infections as reason for the move, and said funding would be reallocated to other vaccines.
Catch-up: RFK Jr. is an infamous vaccine skeptic who has already made controversial vax-related moves in office. In May, he ended a contract with Moderna to develop a potential influenza vaccine, and in June he fired the entire U.S. national vaccine advisory committee.
- These moves have come alongside billions of dollars worth of cuts to national medical research grants and the U.S.’s decision to leave the World Health Organization.
Why it matters: MRNA tech is largely viewed as a key method, perhaps the key method, for developing new vaccines, including ones that could protect against future pandemics. By essentially disavowing mRNA shots, the U.S. could spark a broader pullback in research.
- “We’re moving into a time where being a vaccine company is going to be more expensive, tedious, and onerous," analyst Mani Foroohar recently told CNBC.
Zoom out: The pullback could be compounded by the fact that mRNA vaccines aren’t as profitable as they once looked. Moderna, which went all-in on mRNA during the pandemic, has seen shares fall by ~68% from a year ago and announced lay-offs last week.—QH