The COVID-19 virus, a large pandemic that

The COVID-19 virus, a large pandemic that occurred in 2020, is still raging and mutating, not least because it is no longer frequently reported in the media. mRNA vaccines have been developed at an unprecedented rate, which is why the pandemic has not become the worst catastrophic epidemic in history. Among them, companies like Moderna have contributed to the forefront of mRNA vaccine production by investing hundreds of millions of dollars in their own development costs. (Of course, this has made a lot of money.)

Moderna is known to have received about $1 billion to $2 billion in R&D funding from the U.S. government during the development of its COVID-19 vaccine in 2020. This amount was mainly raised through contracts signed with the Bureau of Biomedical Advanced Research and Development (BARDA) under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, including the amount of RnD and the initial production volume delivery contract.

Moderna is a biotech company that has always focused on mRNA platform research and development. Since its foundation in 2010, it is estimated that it has invested between $1 billion and $1.5 billion in cumulative R&D costs before 2020. Although it is unclear how much it invested in itself in the COVID-19 vaccine project, it is also known that it invested more than $1 billion in R&D alone in 2020 alone when the COVID-19 pandemic was raging.

It is important to remember that since the early 2010s, research and development of Moderna's mRNA platform have already been carried out with the support of NIH. In some cases, a research institute affiliated with NIH conducted joint research with Moderna/MIT, and NIH supported several tasks for mRNA vaccines or therapeutic research even before COVID-19. It was reported that the research project that NIH directly supported mRNA-related Moderna was worth tens of millions of dollars, which can be said to have later become an RnD seed invested by Moderna itself.

With COVID-19 not completely over yet, constant variants are emerging, and we don't know how a completely different type of acute respiratory pandemic will emerge in the near future, mRNA-based vaccines are a very important biotech and an area that requires continuous research. It may be said that public R&D support is no longer needed because private companies such as Moderna are already doing well. However, it is difficult to predict what characteristics of the next pandemic will have, so adventurous research by universities and startups to study from different directions should be continued to secure a seed. Their adventurous research requires long-term government support like Moderna in the past because it is not easy to obtain private investment and has a low success probability.

In recent years, federal-funded R&D support has been rapidly reduced in the United States. Research in almost all areas of basic science, in particular, is being stopped, and most NIH funds supported by universities and startups are on the verge of being suspended or reduced. In particular, it is reported that mRNA vaccine-related studies are on the verge of being stopped, and according to a recent Nature article attached, about 130 large and small tasks seem to have already been on this list.

Not all 130 tasks will produce results with successful mRNA vaccine technologies. One or two will probably survive. However, on the other hand, it can be seen that at least 130 adventurous studies are essential to realize these one or two new technologies. These one or two new technologies may be the most important milestones in helping us quickly respond to the large pandemic that may emerge in a few years.

It is unfortunate that the United States is destroying the innovation engine that has made the United States the most powerful in recent years, but it is unfortunately a big crisis for all of us to gradually shrink the research itself, which will be the seed to respond to the mid- to long-term human crisis in this way. It doesn't matter whether you are a Trump supporter or an opponent in that crisis. It doesn't matter whether you are white or white. It doesn't matter whether you are an American or a foreigner. I hope it doesn't break down further here, but unfortunately, there is no end in sight for now. It is also frustrating that there is no country in particular that can replace the basic science and innovative research led by the United States at the present time. Then, from the next pandemic, you may have to use a Chinese vaccine.