Novak Djokovic may well have already surpassed his recent record-equalling 24th grand slam singles title if he had opted to take a Covid-19 jab and avoided bans at earlier tournaments due to his vaccination status. But the tennis gods clearly have a sense of mischief. Irony doesn’t begin to describe the fact that Moderna (US:MRNA) – one of the 'official corporate supporters' of the championship – sponsored ESPN's 'Shot of the Day' segment at the US Open.
The pharmaceutical and biotechnology group took its original decision to back the tournament as a means of raising awareness over the benefits of messenger RNA (mRNA) therapies beyond treating the coronavirus. The group’s evangelism on this front seems justified given a recent late-stage trial which showed that its influenza vaccine elicited a better immune antibody response than existing products on the market, and Moderna isn’t the only entity looking to exploit the seasonal nature of the illness.
It was well before Covid-19 was beginning to take hold, back in August 2018 that Pfizer (US:PFE) signed a collaboration agreement with Germany’s BioNTech (US:BNTX) to develop mRNA-based flu vaccines. One candidate is now at the phase three trial stage, the point at which an earlier version of Moderna’s alternative vaccine, dubbed mRNA-1010, failed to meet the clinical threshold necessary to declare interim success – as we all know, clinical trials tend to be convoluted affairs.