Moderna
Est. 2010
In 2013, the company formed a partnership with AstraZeneca to develop treatments for cardiovascular, metabolic, and renal diseases, as well as cancer. In January 2014, the company entered an agreement with Alexion Pharmaceuticals to develop treatments against ten diseases. On January 14, 2014, Moderna announced the creation of its first venture, Onkaido Therapeutics, to focus "exclusively on developing mRNA-based oncology treatments." It launched its second venture, Valera, in January 2015, with a focus on "viral, bacterial and parasitic infectious diseases." Employees of Valera and Moderna developed an mRNA vaccine candidate against Zika virus infection. Another venture, Elpidera, was announced in May 2015 to continue work on RNA therapies advancing Moderna's work with Alexion. In 2015, the company formed a partnership with Merck & Co. to develop treatments for cancer, and in 2016 the company formed a partnership with Vertex Pharmaceuticals to develop treatments for cystic fibrosis. In January 2016, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation committed to provide at least $20 million in grant funding to the company. In 2017, Alexion terminated its partnership with Moderna after safety issues prevented their work from reaching human trials.
In July 2018, the company opened a 200,000 square foot facility in Norwood, Massachusetts for manufacturing, preclinical and clinical work. In December 2018, Moderna became a public company via the largest initial public offering of a biotechnology company in history, raising $621 million by selling 27 million shares at $23 per share.
