The future of mRNA: companies and trials to watch in 2025
Exploring the next wave of mRNA innovation in cancer, infectious diseases, and beyond. What will 2025 bring?
The Covid-19 pandemic propelled the development of mRNA vaccines and shot Moderna, BioNTech, Pfizer and others into the limelight. Today, these companies are looking past Covid-19 and exploring new ways to apply the mRNA technology. Cancer, HIV, and rare diseases top the list for 2025, as companies push mRNA vaccines into new territory.
The path hasn’t been smooth. Last year brought tougher regulations, tighter wallets, and the tricky shift from emergency pandemic shots to precise medical treatments. But the industry is adapting. Gone are the days of rushing out vaccines for a global crisis. Instead, firms are fine-tuning their approach, developing treatments that can target specific cancer markers or block HIV infection.
Cancer is the main focus. BioNTech and Moderna have late stage trials testing personalized cancer vaccines. The idea is compelling: take a patient’s tumor profile, create a custom mRNA vaccine that teaches their immune system to spot the cancer, and pair it with existing immunotherapy drugs. Early results in melanoma have turned heads. Patients who received Moderna’s mRNA vaccine alongside Merck’s Keytruda showed significantly better outcomes.
HIV presents a different challenge. Here, Moderna is testing whether mRNA can train the immune system to produce antibodies that might prevent infection. It’s a bold bet on a virus that has evaded traditional vaccines for decades.
The respiratory disease front looks promising too. After Covid-19, companies have set their sights on RSV, flu, and other viruses. The appeal is clear: mRNA vaccines can be updated quickly as viruses mutate, and manufacturing can be scaled rapidly.
Yet questions remain. Can these complex treatments be made affordable? Will they work as well outside of cancer? The technology’s future may depend less on scientific breakthroughs and more on practical matters of cost, scale, and delivery.
Still, 2025 could mark mRNA’s second act. If even a few of these trials succeed, the Covid-19 vaccines might be remembered not as a one-off triumph, but as the opening chapter of a medical revolution.
Moderna personalized cancer vaccines
As Moderna’s Covid-19 windfall fades, the biotech pioneer is betting its future on a bolder vision. Personalized cancer treatment. At the heart of this strategy is mRNA-4157, a cancer vaccine that’s turning heads in melanoma trials.
As mentioned above, the approach is clever. Take a patient’s tumor DNA, create a custom vaccine that targets up to 34 cancer markers, and pair it with proven cancer drug Keytruda (PD-1 blocker). Early results are promising — patients in the phase 2b trial lived longer without their cancer returning. Now, as phase 3 trials approach in 2025, Moderna isn’t stopping at skin cancer. The company has its sights set on lung, kidney, and bladder cancers too.
A breakthrough in mRNA vaccines could be a catalyst for the stock price. Moderna’s stock has tumbled from its pandemic heights of $400 to around $42, as Covid vaccine sales dry up. While analysts see potential for recovery, with price targets averaging $198 by 2025 and nearly $500 by 2027, the company needs a win. Recent political headwinds from anti-vaccine rhetoric (as in RFK Jr.’s nomination for HHSS) haven’t helped.
