<p>US biotech firm Moderna said Wednesday it had dosed its first participants in a human study of an mRNA vaccine that targets multiple strains of influenza.</p>.<p>The company intends to recruit 180 adults in the United States for the Phase 1/2 portion of the trial to evaluate the safety and strength of immune response to the shot, called mRNA-1010.</p>.<p>It is based on the same messenger ribonucleic (mRNA) technology deployed in Moderna's Covid-19 shot, which is more than 90 percent effective, and if the trial proves successful, it could lead to a new generation of more protective flu vaccines.</p>.<p>"We expect that our seasonal influenza vaccine candidates will be an important component of our future combination respiratory vaccines," said CEO Stephane Bancel in a statement.</p>.<p>The majority of current flu vaccines are based on inactivated viruses cultivated in chicken eggs.</p>.<p>The strains have to be selected six to nine months before the vaccines are intended to be used, and their efficacy is approximately 40 to 60 percent.</p>.<p>Moderna hopes mRNA technology, which provokes an immune response by delivering genetic molecules containing the code for key parts of a pathogen into human cells, can accelerate development and increase scalability.</p>.<p>Several mRNA molecules that encode for different strains can also be delivered in the same shot.</p>.<p>The flu shot under development targets four strains of flu recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO): A (H1N1), A(H3N2), B/Yamagata and B/Victoria.</p>.<p>The WHO estimates there are approximately three to five million severe cases of flu each year globally and 290,000 to 650,000 flu-related respiratory deaths.</p>.<p>Moderna also plans to explore potential combination vaccines against flu, SARS-CoV-2, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and human metapneumovirus (hMPV).</p>
<p>US biotech firm Moderna said Wednesday it had dosed its first participants in a human study of an mRNA vaccine that targets multiple strains of influenza.</p>.<p>The company intends to recruit 180 adults in the United States for the Phase 1/2 portion of the trial to evaluate the safety and strength of immune response to the shot, called mRNA-1010.</p>.<p>It is based on the same messenger ribonucleic (mRNA) technology deployed in Moderna's Covid-19 shot, which is more than 90 percent effective, and if the trial proves successful, it could lead to a new generation of more protective flu vaccines.</p>.<p>"We expect that our seasonal influenza vaccine candidates will be an important component of our future combination respiratory vaccines," said CEO Stephane Bancel in a statement.</p>.<p>The majority of current flu vaccines are based on inactivated viruses cultivated in chicken eggs.</p>.<p>The strains have to be selected six to nine months before the vaccines are intended to be used, and their efficacy is approximately 40 to 60 percent.</p>.<p>Moderna hopes mRNA technology, which provokes an immune response by delivering genetic molecules containing the code for key parts of a pathogen into human cells, can accelerate development and increase scalability.</p>.<p>Several mRNA molecules that encode for different strains can also be delivered in the same shot.</p>.<p>The flu shot under development targets four strains of flu recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO): A (H1N1), A(H3N2), B/Yamagata and B/Victoria.</p>.<p>The WHO estimates there are approximately three to five million severe cases of flu each year globally and 290,000 to 650,000 flu-related respiratory deaths.</p>.<p>Moderna also plans to explore potential combination vaccines against flu, SARS-CoV-2, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and human metapneumovirus (hMPV).</p>