RFK Jr. supports MRNA research – not just for vaccines
One of the targeted recipients, Tiba Biotech, had $ 750,000, which was due to end October 30. The company was developing a RNAI -based treatment for the H1N1 influenza, also known as swine flu. RNAI is short for RNA interference and refers to small pieces of RNA that can turn off the production of specific proteins. This approach has been well studied, and there are several RNAI -based drugs on the market. The first case was confirmed in 2018 for the treatment of neurological injury caused by a rare disease called amyloidosis through hereditary transfrontin.
The cancellation of the contract for Tiba was surprising, which received a stop -stop order on August 5, which did not mention the wind from the Brada MRNA vaccine development activities. “Our project does not include the development of a MRNA product and is the treatment instead of the vaccine,” said Jasdave Chahal, a senior scientific manager in Tiba.
Government contracts often include specific milestones that contractors must achieve to get funding and advance their projects. Tiba says its project has met its goals so far and has come to an end.
Also among canceled contracts, a $ 750,000 prize to EMORY University was inhaled to convert a MRNA antiviral therapy for the flu and Coveid into dry powder formulation. The project did not include vaccine development. “Unfortunately, we have little insight to provide donations,” said a spokesman for Amati, a spokesman for Amatiz.
The decline is compatible with the desire to humiliate research into infectious diseases, although experts have warned that they can make the United States vulnerable to the future epidemic.
Despite the decline in the scale of research on Infectious Diseases associated with RNA, the government expresses enthusiasm for some of the non -useful research that includes MRNA.
In January, shortly after office, President Trump announced a joint venture by Openai, Oracle and Softbank, Stargate, to invest $ 500 billion for artificial intelligence infrastructure. At that time, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison talked about the potential of artificial intelligence to build personal MRNA -based vaccines for cancer.
On August 12, in the Washington Post, the National Director of Jay Bataria’s health acknowledged the promise of the MRNA. “I do not dispose of its potential. In the future, it may still make progress in the treatment of diseases such as cancer, and HHS continues to invest in continuous research on oncology and other complex diseases.”
Unlike his boss, Bhattacharya says he does not believe that MRNA vaccines have caused widespread damage. But he says the reason for stopping the MRNA vaccine research is because the platform has lost public confidence – a logic that is deviated from slowness.
However, MRNA may be accepted when treating many patients with genetic disorders.
Earlier this year, regulators at FDA Greenlit A custom gene editing for the baby called KJ Muldoon with a rare and life -threatening liver disease. Created in only six months, it uses MRNA to deliver gene editing components to its liver. This was the first time a custom gene editing was used to successfully treat the patient.
In June, the FDA Commissioner, Marter Makari, praised his podcasting achievement and called it a “great victory for medical science”, and at a FDA roundtable said the agency would continue to facilitate the supervisory process of these products.
Researchers have met with the FDA for more and more recently a clinical trial proposal for more and more recently for patients. “The FDA was very positive for this proposal and effectively gave us the green lights to continue our work,” says Kiran Musunuru
The team holds another meeting with the FDA in a month or two to discuss the expansion of the concept of platform beyond a single disease or single gene to a wider group of disorders. “We’ll see how it is going,” she says.
