Drugmakers may only be scratching the surface of mRNA, the platform Pfizer and Moderna used to develop the first two COVID-19 vaccines granted emergency use authorization by the FDA.
COVID-19 vaccines that use mRNA provide instructions for a cell to make a protein, inciting an immune response to enhance the body’s ability to fight the actual virus, according to Indu Lew, PharmD, the chief pharmacy officer at West Orange, N.J.-based RWJBarnabas Health.
Dr. Lew called the future of mRNA vaccines "fascinating and endless," saying scientists could use the technology to express any protein and "potentially treat any disease."
Jason Baldwin, PharmD, the director of pharmacy at Bayfront Health Brooksville (Fla.), had similar optimism.
"Because mRNA technology enables synthesis of any of a number of proteins, I think we can expect to see mRNA vaccines used to fight influenza and other viral illnesses," Dr. Baldwin said. "But I don't think it stops there. I believe this technology will also be used to treat cancer and genetic diseases as well."
Doug Richling, PharmD, Grand Island, Neb.-based CHI St. Francis' director of pharmacy, said mRNA has the potential to tackle Zika, HIV, Ebola and some cancers. Dr. Lew agreed, saying mRNA could be used to design preventative vaccines for infectious diseases such as malaria and influenza, as well as therapeutic vaccines targeting genetic diseases and cancer.
The technology could also transform the way people are inoculated against the influenza, according to Helen McKnight, PharmD, the director of pharmacy at Birmingham, Ala.-based Princeton Baptist Medical Center.
"Seasonal influenza is a serious public health concern," Dr. McKnight said. "Several promising mRNA influenza vaccine trials are already underway. Preliminary CDC data for the 2019-2020 influenza season indicated that roughly 24,000-62,000 Americans died from the flu. The need for an effective vaccine that could be scaled up quickly and deployed would be a tremendous advantage."
Financially speaking, mRNA also has the potential to reduce the massive cost burden autoimmune diseases and cancers pose on the American healthcare system,
The pandemic demonstrated that not only are mRNA vaccines effective, but they can also be produced rapidly and relatively cheaply, according to Jessica Daley, vice president of strategic supplier engagement at Premier, a group purchasing organization that supplies about 4,100 hospitals and health systems in the U.S.
Ms. Daley said that incorporating mRNA into autoimmune disease and cancer care could help slow these areas' unrelenting growth in expenditures, while also improving outcomes for patients.