a16z Live
a16z Bio + Health #15: The mRNA Revolution with Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel
Episode Summary
Just 48 hours after the sequence for the virus was published, Moderna had developed a COVID vaccine using new mRNA technology. Why is mRNA technology so revolutionary? How effective will it be in combatting new COVID variants? And what other diseases and health conditions does mRNA have the potential to treat?
Episode Notes
- mRNA research before COVID and how "mRNA is code" [3:21]
- The early days of COVID: designing a vaccine in 48 hours [5:44]
- The software behind the vaccine: getting mRNA researchers out of Excel and into a drug design studio [9:11]
- The first draft of the vaccine was the final draft [11:10]
- How the government sped up vaccine development for COVID [12:18]
- What other new vaccines will come from mRNA? [15:34]
- How far are we from these mRNA vaccines? What do we need for them to be widely available? [25:31]
- Open sourcing Moderna [27:53]
- When will COVID vaccines be available for a five year old? [29:47]
- The three factors that matter when dealing with COVID variants [30:46]
- How might open source shake up biotech [36:41]
- The moonshot applications for mRNA therapeutics [39:43]
- Advice for building a new category in a regulated environment [46:49]
- The clinical or regulatory advances needed to speed drug time to market [51:08]
- Challenge trials for vaccines: good or bad idea? [59:11]
It's Time to Heal, Mondays at 5pm PT on Clubhouse. Join the a16z bio team — Jorge Conde, Vineeta Agarwala, Julie Yoo, and Vijay Pande — plus special guests as they explore all the ways that biology is technology.