Le azioni di Moderna sono in forte rialzo dopo la notizia di un trattamento personalizzato contro il cancro, ma l’amministratore delegato Stéphane Bancel richiama l’attenzione su quello che considera un rischio più grande: la spinta sostenuta dallo Stato cinese per sfidare gli Stati Uniti nella biotecnologia.

In un’intervista a "Mornings with Maria" lunedì, Bancel ha affermato che, mentre Washington riduce i finanziamenti all’mRNA, Pechino sta investendo denaro pubblico nella biotecnologia per sfidare gli Stati Uniti. Ha sostenuto che mantenere la produzione di farmaci sul suolo americano — comprese le strutture di Moderna in Massachusetts — aiuta a proteggere sia i pazienti statunitensi sia il primato americano nella sanità.

"I think the government has an active role to play in taking risk for really innovative medicine," Bancel told FOX Business’ Cheryl Casone, "and indeed, if you think about what's happening around the world, we know, for example, that in China there's a lot of mRNA investments."

"The technology has already proven itself during COVID with the vaccine, now with cancer, as I said, very soon in rare genetic disease, and I think that we want to make sure that there is investment because those investments in the long term help American patients," he continued.

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Il Partito Comunista Cinese ha designato la biotecnologia come una "strategic emerging industry" e ha fornito finanziamenti e sussidi statali per sostenere le aziende nazionali, mentre la Cina cerca di dominare segmenti chiave dell’industria biotecnologica, secondo la National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology.

Nel frattempo, il Dipartimento della Salute e dei Servizi Umani degli Stati Uniti (HHS) ha annunciato lo scorso agosto che avrebbe gradualmente interrotto progetti di sviluppo di vaccini mRNA per un valore di quasi $500 million attraverso la Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).

Un portavoce dell’HHS ha dichiarato a Fox News Digital che il dipartimento continua a sostenere parte della ricerca sull’mRNA, inclusa quella per i tumori difficili da trattare, sottoponendo però la tecnologia a un controllo più rigoroso.

"Secretary Kennedy has been clear that he believes mRNA products warrant heightened scientific scrutiny. HHS continues to support mRNA research where the science shows promise, including for hard-to-treat cancers. Secretary Kennedy recently committed the National Cancer Institute at NIH to a public-private partnership to invest in research and clinical trials," the spokesperson said.

"At the same time, HHS wound down investments in mRNA vaccines for upper respiratory viruses because the technology does not effectively protect against infection from rapidly mutating viruses such as COVID-19 and flu. These companies had already received substantial federal investment, and HHS redirected those resources toward other promising technologies," the statement continued. "HHS will continue to invest in innovative medical research based on the strength of the science and its potential to improve outcomes for American patients."

Invece di fare affidamento su catene di approvvigionamento estere per forniture e ingredienti farmaceutici, Bancel ha detto che Moderna ha contrastato questa minaccia ampliando le proprie attività produttive in Massachusetts, garantendo che i farmaci personalizzati avanzati vengano progettati e prodotti sul suolo americano.

"The team has done an amazing job to shrink the manufacturing process, the machines, because it's the same technology that will make millions of doses in one reactor," Bancel said. "It's actually happening in America, in Massachusetts, in a factory that we built and that is ready to go."

"In terms of cost, because it's not using human material, like CAR-T cell therapy is a very expensive price because it's a very expensive manufacturing process. In our case, it's all used with enzyme[s], it's in water, it is a very different thing. As we get the data and we get closer to discussing pricing, but we don't have the very high cost of goods that the self-therapy products have."

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Le azioni di Moderna sono salite del 177% il 19 Aug. dopo che la società e Merck hanno annunciato che il loro trattamento personalizzato a mRNA, combinato con Keytruda di Merck, ha raggiunto gli endpoint principali in uno studio di fase 3 sul melanoma, offrendo agli investitori nuove prove del potenziale dell’mRNA oltre i vaccini contro le malattie infettive.

"If you look at the company since day one, we try to use our technology across many therapeutic areas: Infectious disease, vaccine of course, cancer," Bancel noted. "So last week was a big step forward. We became an oncology company, but I think by the end of the year, we should also become a rare genetic disease company."

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