Is the Era of 'mRNA' Opening for Influenza Vaccines?

Major domestic and international pharmaceutical companies are developing messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA)-based influenza (flu) vaccines. Since mRNA vaccines have shorter development and production times compared to traditional methods, there is growing interest in whether they can become a 'game changer.'

Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine formulation 'Comirnaty'
[Photo by Yonhap News]

According to the pharmaceutical and biotech industry on the 17th, GC Pharma recently exercised the license option for lipid nanoparticle (LNP) technology by signing an agreement with Canadian biotech company Aquitas. Earlier, the two companies had signed a development and option agreement in April last year to develop an mRNA-based flu vaccine. LNP is a delivery system that safely transports nanoparticles into body cells, enabling mRNA to function, and is a key technology in developing mRNA-based pharmaceuticals. GC Pharma also announced its goal to enter Phase 1 clinical trials in 2024.

Global big pharma companies such as Pfizer and Moderna have already entered clinical stages for mRNA-based flu vaccines. The flu vaccines they are developing are combined with COVID-19 vaccines, allowing prevention of both diseases with a single injection. Earlier, these two companies rapidly developed and launched mRNA vaccines during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. When variant viruses like Omicron emerged, they quickly developed bivalent vaccines using the mRNA platform to respond accordingly.

mRNA is ribonucleic acid (RNA) that delivers genetic information from the nucleus to ribosomes in the cytoplasm, serving as a blueprint for protein production. mRNA-based vaccines induce immunity by teaching cells how to produce proteins that trigger immune responses. Unlike traditional vaccines, they do not require virus cultivation.

Vaccines using this method have the advantage of faster development and production compared to traditional methods because they do not undergo virus antigen cultivation. In fact, the design of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine, 'Moderna Spikevax,' was reportedly completed in just over two days. Additionally, since the virus is not directly injected into the body, it is theoretically safer than traditional vaccines.

Currently, flu vaccines administered in Korea are produced using egg-based and cell-based cultivation methods. The egg-based method grows the virus in fertilized eggs to produce vaccines; GC Pharma's flu vaccine 'GC Flu' also uses this method. While egg-based cultivation has been used for a long time and is highly stable, it requires a certain amount of time for cultivation. Since vaccines are produced using eggs, people with egg allergies are restricted from vaccination, and unstable egg supply can disrupt production. The cell-based method produces vaccines in cultivation tanks without eggs, resulting in a shorter production period than the egg-based method. SK Bioscience's flu vaccine 'Skycellflu' is the world's first quadrivalent vaccine using this method.

As mRNA vaccines gain attention as the next-generation platform, companies appear to be accelerating development. A GC Pharma official stated, "We have embarked on developing mRNA-based vaccines to proactively respond to the future vaccine market," adding, "We will accelerate the development of innovative new drugs in vaccines and rare diseases through mRNA platform technology to secure next-generation growth engines."

However, since this platform has only recently been commercialized, the lack of concrete data and instability remain challenges to be addressed. An industry insider commented, "The mRNA method can significantly reduce development and production times compared to the traditional egg-based method," but also noted, "Because the technology itself has only recently been commercialized, there are aspects of instability."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.