The Post-Pandemic mRNA Push Gains Steam

Big players push mRNA into new arenas while early pipelines and selective deals shape the next wave

11 Dec 2025

A field once defined by a crisis is seeking a new identity. America’s mRNA industry, after its breakneck pandemic rise, is pressing into an era that feels both bold and embryonic. Investment is returning, labs are busy again and pipelines are lengthening. Yet most projects remain early in human testing, leaving the sector suspended between promise and experiment.

Firms are recasting their portfolios to suit this longer horizon. Moderna is pushing deeper into cancer and rare diseases as demand for covid shots fades. BioNTech is broadening its personalised oncology work and tightening control of its tools, helped by its recent purchase of CureVac. Pfizer, facing fiercer competition, is hunting for fresh therapeutic uses for its own platform.

The renewed enthusiasm rests on faith in mRNA’s flexibility: sequences can be designed and revised quickly, allowing fast iteration across disease areas. Recent deals reflect the scramble to secure the surrounding ecosystem, from delivery technologies to manufacturing capacity. Big takeovers remain rare, surfacing mainly within wider biotech consolidation rather than as platform-led megadeals.

Caution, however, is never far away. Most candidates are still at the start of the clinic, and questions persist about long-term safety, cost and the difficulty of making the stuff at scale. Smaller biotechs often run into production bottlenecks that push them toward selective partnerships, useful for resources, less so for independence. Many analysts see such obstacles as normal for a young therapeutic class, not flashing red lights.

Even so, the mood is hopeful. Forecasts point to steady growth backed by rising interest in personalised medicine and continued investment in translational research. Companies are preparing for a future in which mRNA sits at the centre of vaccines, oncology, rare diseases and perhaps chronic conditions too. The industry is not merely shedding its pandemic past. It is sketching the outlines of its next frontier.