Nanexa collaboration to enhance Moderna’s mRNA drug delivery

Moderna is bolstering its advanced biologics drug delivery capabilities through a new $500 million license and option agreement with Nanexa AB.

The deal aims to assess the potential of Nanexa proprietary drug delivery platform to enhance the release profile of Moderna’s selected compounds.

This agreement covers up to five undisclosed compounds, with one selected for development and the latter four available for option by Moderna.

Nanexa will receive an upfront payment of $3 million and is eligible for royalty payments on future product sales.

David Westberg, CEO of Nanexa said: “We are excited to partner with Moderna, a pioneer and leader in the field of mRNA medicines, to explore the potential of our PharmaShell^® platform and to support the development of improved products for Moderna.”

Nanexa is a pharmaceutical company focused on long-acting injectable drug delivery that has previously licensed its technology to other big pharma companies including AstraZenenca and Novo Nordisk.

Their technology is based on atomic layer deposition (ALD) and enables precise encapsulation of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), offering tailored release profiles and improved product stability. This approach could provide monthly injectable treatments for diseases including type 2 diabetes/obesity, cancer and cardiovascular disease, according to Nanexa.

Moderna continues to invest in its mRNA medicines. In November, the company announced a $140 million investment to onshore drug product manufacturing to its existing Moderna Technology Center (MTC) in Norwood, Massachusetts, US.

September saw Moderna open the UK’s first manufacturing facility for mNRA vaccines at its technology centre in Harwell, a key element of the firm’s ten-year partnership with the UK Government, supporting production of its mRNA medicine in the country.

Moderna’s latest investment follows broader changes in the field. In August, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced planned to restructure nucleic acid-based vaccine projects, with Moderna just one of the companies impacted.