Gates Foundation Backs mRNA Vaccines

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has invested $52 million in CureVac, a German company specializing in messenger RNA (mRNA)-based vaccines. The investment will fund the construction of an industrial-scale vaccine manufacturing facility meeting FDA standards. The foundation will provide separate funding for the development of prophylactic vaccines based on CureVac’s mRNA platform for diseases that affect the developing world. CureVac’s technology uses natural and chemically modified mRNA as a data carrier to instruct the human body on producing its own proteins capable of fighting disease.