“The single biggest threat to man’s continued dominance on the planet is the virus.”—Joshua Lederberg, renowned molecular biologist and Nobel Laureate
Humans and viruses are constantly at war. While this war may be atypical, many traditional wartime strategies are still effective. In particular, fostering human ingenuity and technological innovation is essential to gain an edge over our opponent.
At the German Cancer Research Institute, I was part of Harald zur Hausen’s team that discovered the widespread virus HPV causes cervical cancer. Through HPV vaccination, we will be able to prevent more than 60 million cancer cases across the globe. However, it took roughly two decades to translate this discovery into an approved vaccine. Now equipped with breakthrough RNA technology to use against our viral enemy, we developed and mass-manufactured safe and effective vaccines for COVID-19 in less than a year.
Today’s RNA technology helped us in our battle against COVID-19, but that does not mean the fight is over. To keep up and even get ahead, we must continue to innovate. Thankfully, scientists at leading research institutes are making faster progress than ever, constantly making new discoveries that have the potential to become the next transformative biotechnology. As company creators and investors, we at BioImpact Capital and MPM work hand-in-hand with these scientists, along with entrepreneurial drug development experts, to turn academic concepts into transformative medicines that address serious unmet needs, including viruses.
Innovation will continue to provide new and more effective ways to fight our evolving enemy.
One example is Orna Therapeutics, a company developing the next generation of RNA technology: circular RNA. Circular RNA technology was originally invented at MIT and has immense potential to address key limitations of mRNA. Orna is leveraging the technological advantages of circular RNA, including enhanced stability, to create more efficacious RNA therapies with a broader array of potential applications. To apply this breakthrough in our war with viruses, Orna has partnered with Merck & Co. to create the next generation of RNA vaccines.
New vaccine technologies are immensely important. They have the potential to not only prevent infection from today’s viruses but also tomorrow’s threats. However, vaccines cannot address the needs of the hundreds of millions of individuals who are affected by persistent viral infection and chronic viral disease. For these diseases, we need cures.
In 1998, Pharmasset was founded to create a cure for hepatitis C, the deadliest viral disease at the beginning of the 21st century. Chronic infection with hepatitis C virus leads to liver cirrhosis, often requiring a transplant, and severe risk for liver cancer. Pharmasset developed Sovaldi®, a breakthrough therapeutic that cures 98 percent of hepatitis C patients with a 12-week course of treatment. Since 2013, approximately 6 million hepatitis C patients have been cured using Sovaldi.
While we are winning the battle against hepatitis C, there are still other battles being waged that need our attention. Chronic infection with HIV and hepatitis B affect over 300 million patients worldwide, resulting in over 1 million deaths per year. This unmet need will be addressed with the same strategy that has been so successful in the past: biotechnological innovation. New, promising ways of thinking about chronic infection are emerging, borne from our more sophisticated understanding of these infections and learnings derived from treating other diseases, including cancer. As an example, harnessing our immune system has been transformative in cancer care and may represent the next wave of chronic viral therapeutics.
As we emerge from the pandemic, we must remain vigilant in our war with viruses. Innovation will continue to provide new and more effective ways to fight our evolving enemy. Armed with these new tools, we will be able to cure chronic viral illnesses and to prepare for future viral threats.