The great success of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines made it clear that a new vaccine modality with transformative potential was born. Lipid nanoparticle-encapsulated nucleoside-modified mRNA represents the most advanced RNA vaccine platform that allows for the design and production of novel, safe and effective vaccines against a wide range of pathogens and various types of cancer.
Penn is a pioneer of the mRNA vaccine technology and the mission of the Vaccines branch of the Institute for RNA Innovation is to advance the development of novel infectious disease and cancer vaccines in collaborative studies among immunologists, virologists, structural biologists and others at Penn, CHOP, Wistar and many other institutions in and outside of the US.