The story of the biotech company Moderna almost reads like a Hollywood screenplay. In its relatively short life, it has evolved from a scrappy startup to one of the hottest biotechs in the world with billions in investment. Then in 2021, Moderna received global accolades for the speed and success of its mRNA Covid vaccine.
But like any good screenplay, there was a twist. The 2024 election happened, and the person President Trump chose as health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is a vocal skeptic of mRNA technology.
But Kennedy’s appointment alone doesn’t explain why Moderna’s stock has fallen so far from its highs during the pandemic.
In this week’s installment of STATus Report, STAT reporters Jason Mast and Damian Garde discuss the “almost Forrest Gump-like entity,” that is Moderna and what could be in store for its third act. Host Alex Hogan also chats with STAT Managing Editor Gideon Gil about what it was like to discover the late, great STAT senior writer Sharon Begley had pre-written an obituary to James Watson, the controversial scientist who died last week at 97.
