Three mRNA vaccines that are expected to appear in the future, such as 'cancer vaccine'



The 'mRNA vaccine ' that induces an immune response by using artificially replicated mRNA is different from conventional vaccines, and has the advantage that it can be produced with only the genetic information of the virus. In the pandemic of the new coronavirus, human beings were able to produce a vaccine in less than a year with the new coronavirus vaccine Pfizer's ' BNT162b2 ' and Moderna's ' mRNA-1273 ', the world's first mRNA vaccines. It is said that the point that was was also big. According to the scientific media, 'three mRNA vaccines that researchers are working on' will be useful for the prevention of various diseases as well as the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). The Conversation summarizes it.

3 mRNA vaccines researchers are working on (that aren't COVID)
https://theconversation.com/3-mrna-vaccines-researchers-are-working-on-that-arent-covid-157858

Developed as the world's first mRNA vaccine, Pfizer and Moderna's new coronavirus vaccine has been approved by regulators after successful clinical trials and has been inoculated worldwide at the time of writing. As of April 11, 2021, the cumulative number of new coronavirus vaccinations worldwide has exceeded 788 million. Pfizer vaccines are used in 85 countries around the world, and Moderna vaccines are used in 36 countries around the world.

A number of graphs showing the vaccination status of the new corona at a glance have been released, revealing the current situation where vaccines are not as good as in poor countries --GIGAZINE



The fact that vaccines have been developed and spread in less than a year after the pandemic of the new coronavirus occurred was unthinkable from the perspective of vaccine development so far. Vaccines for conventional infectious diseases have been developed over a long period of time, and the new coronavirus vaccine is the first vaccine developed in less than a year.

You can understand why the new coronavirus vaccine was developed so fast by reading the following article.

Why was the new corona vaccine developed so fast? --GIGAZINE



One of the factors that greatly contributed to the spread of the new coronavirus vaccine is the adoption of the latest 'mRNA vaccine' technology as a vaccine. And since mRNA can be produced to act on any target, there is a possibility that mRNA vaccines that can prevent various diseases will appear in the future.

◆ What is mRNA in the first place?
mRNA is a type of genetic substance that tells the body how to make proteins. In the new coronavirus vaccine and mRNA vaccine 'BNT162b2' and 'mRNA-1273', the mRNA related to the formation instruction of the spike protein possessed by SARS-CoV-2 is injected into the body. After that, the immune system of the person who put the mRNA in the body will be able to react and process well with the spike protein on the surface of SARS-CoV-2.

Such an mRNA vaccine is expected to be applied not only to the new coronavirus vaccine but also to various vaccines. The three vaccines that are actually being developed as mRNA vaccines are as follows.

◆ 1: Influenza vaccine
Moderna has announced a program to develop an mRNA vaccine to combat seasonal influenza. The program targets four influenza virus strains that the World Health Organization (WHO) predicts will be epidemic.

However, what is most sought after is a universal influenza vaccine that acts on all virus strains. If there is a vaccine that protects the body from all virus strains, it will not be necessary to vaccinate for new virus strains every year.

Among the researchers involved in the development of the mRNA vaccine, there are also researchers who are working on the development of a 'universal influenza vaccine.'



A study led by Moderna has succeeded in finding the most 'highly conserved' mRNA code for the virus by collecting vast amounts of data on the influenza genome. It is believed that this mRNA code is least likely to cause structural or functional mutations in viral proteins due to mutations. In addition, the research team has succeeded in preparing a mixture of mRNAs that express four different viral proteins.

In addition, studies in mice have shown that this experimental vaccine is highly potent against diverse and difficult-to-target viral strains of influenza. Therefore, 'at the time of writing, it is a strong candidate for a universal influenza vaccine,' wrote The Conversation.

◆ 2: Malaria vaccine
Malaria is an infectious disease caused by the unicellular parasite Plasmodium malaria, which occurs when a mosquito bites. Therefore, there is no malaria vaccine at the time of writing the article.

However, researchers at the pharmaceutical company GSK have applied for a patent for an mRNA vaccine against malaria. This patent-pending malaria vaccine encodes a parasitic protein called PMIF. By teaching the body to target this protein, it will be possible to train the immune system to eradicate parasites.

This malaria vaccine has also yielded promising results in mouse experiments and is planned for clinical trials in the United Kingdom.

This malaria mRNA vaccine is a type of self-amplifying mRNA vaccine , and when mRNA enters the cell, a copy of mRNA is produced. Therefore, it is only necessary to produce a small amount of mRNA, and it is expected to be the next-generation mRNA vaccine next to the existing standard mRNA vaccine.

◆ 3: Cancer vaccine
Vaccines that prevent the transmission of viruses that cause cancer already exist. For example, the hepatitis B vaccine prevents some liver cancers, and the human papillomavirus vaccine prevents cervical cancer.

However, due to the flexibility of mRNA vaccines, attention is being paid to the development of vaccines that can prevent not only cancers caused by viruses but also all kinds of cancers.

Some types of cancer tumors contain antigens and proteins that are not found in normal cells. If the immune system can be trained to identify these tumor-related antigens, it is possible for immune cells to destroy cancer cells.

Cancer vaccines are a particular combination of these antigens development is advanced to target, BioNTech that developed a new coronavirus vaccine in collaboration with Pfizer, the mRNA vaccine works effectively in malignant melanoma development and I have. In addition, the German biopharmacy company CureVac is developing a vaccine for certain types of lung cancer, which has been successful in early clinical trials .

Other personalized anti-cancer mRNA vaccines may emerge. If we can design a vaccine that works uniquely for each patient's tumor, we can train the individual's immune system and train the body to fight cancer. Research groups and companies are working on such personalized anti-cancer mRNA vaccines.



Not surprisingly, there are many challenges with mRNA vaccines.

For example, mRNA vaccines need to be stored frozen, which limits their use in developing countries and remote areas. In response, Moderna announced that it is working on the development of an mRNA vaccine that can be stored refrigerated.

In addition, the use of vaccines requires large-scale clinical trials prior to regulatory approval. However, the regulatory hurdles for this are much smaller than they were a year ago, as the pandemic of the new coronavirus has led to rapid approval of the mRNA vaccine.

Another problem is that personalized mRNA cancer vaccines can be costly and not all countries have the facilities to mass produce mRNA vaccines.

However, The Conversation said, 'MRNA vaccine technology is destructive and innovative, which could overcome these challenges and change the way current and future vaccines are.' I have high expectations for the future.

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in Science, Posted by logu_ii