Behind the Headlines: Pandemic Preparedness, Novel mRNA Applications, and More

Behind the Headlines is a bi-weekly panel discussion examining the latest trends, readouts, and other factors that drive pharmaceutical news and innovation. Each episode features consultants, venture capitalists, scientists, patient advocates, and journalists discussing the prior weeks’ top news while seeking to highlight the more enduring lessons that hide behind the headlines.

In episode 7, Edwin Stone, CEO of Cellular Origins; Bernard Sagaert, CEO of etherna and senior consultant and CEO, Inphacon BV; and Khaled Yamout, founder and CEO of Yamout Chem Consultancy, go behind the headlines to discuss the ongoing measles outbreak in the UK, and what the troubling trend means for vaccination acceptance and overall pandemic preparedness, including the need for improved public health messaging and narratives to combat anti-vaccination movements globally.

The panel also discussed takeaways from arguably the two most important mRNA conferences of the year, with the Alliance for mRNA Medicines’ (AMM) 1st annual conference, AMM Ascent, and the Katalin Karikó-led 12th Annual mRNA Health Conference, both of which took place in Boston. New mRNA approaches, novel therapeutic applications, and a presentation about a promising branched polyA tail were of great interest for discussion.

Lastly, the panel commented on Roche’s acquisition of its collaboration partner Poseida Therapeutics in an arrangement worth up to $1.5 billion (1), betting on complex immune cell therapies against several types of blood cancer to boost its development pipeline, with Poseida’s non-viral delivery method opening up new avenues in terms of cargo payloads.

Click here for more episodes of Behind the Headlines.

Reference: 
1. Poseida Therapeutics, Inc. announces agreement to be acquired by Roche Holdings, Inc. News Release. Poseida Therapeutics. November 26, 2024. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/poseida-therapeutics-inc-announces-agreement-to-be-acquired-by-roche-holdings-inc-302316189.html