Update on Charles River’s collaboration with Moderna Therapeutics

Since 2011, Charles River has been a key partner in helping Moderna advance its messenger RNA (mRNA) Therapeutics™ through discovery, development candidate nomination, investigational new drug (IND)-enabling studies and into the clinic.

“From 2015 to 2016 Charles River nearly doubled its support for Moderna’s mRNA drug discovery and development portfolio, aligned with Moderna’s continued advancement and scale-up of its discovery efforts and development pipeline,” said Davide Molho, Corporate Executive Vice President & President, Global Research Models & Services, Safety Assessment and Biologics at Charles River. “We’re proud to have been a partner in Moderna’s programs, from early drug discovery through safety assessment.”

Through the collaboration, Charles River and Moderna have worked together to develop unique and comprehensive solutions tailored to Moderna’s business, including:

• Designing specific protocols to assess safety in mRNA development candidates.
• Focusing on a highly flexible business model that allows rapid expansion of research throughput to ensure that capacity remains one step ahead of the development programs it supports.
• Assembling a highly collaborative team across both companies to ensure a scalable service that can readily accelerate IND-enabling studies, providing Moderna with faster research study starts and faster turnaround timelines.
• Providing flexibility in accessing the broad portfolio of research models and services used in Moderna’s discovery programs.
• Working with Moderna to provide expert counsel on best practices for running successful vivariums and scheduling studies.

“Our Research and Early Development Engines are enabling us to advance high-quality mRNA therapeutics and vaccines across modalities and therapeutic areas with unique breadth, speed and scale. Charles River’s support for our non-GLP and GLP toxicology studies is an important component of our discovery and early development processes,” said Stéphane Bancel, Chief Executive Officer of Moderna. “Charles River has been a valued partner, given their expertise, intense focus on quality, agility and the ability to accommodate the pace at which we are advancing mRNA programs.”

Moderna’s current development pipeline includes 12 mRNA development candidates, including vaccines and therapeutics across three therapeutic areas: infectious diseases, immuno-oncology and cardiovascular disease, with five clinical studies underway.

Utilising Charles River’s broad portfolio of products and services, which can be tailored to specific research requirements, clients can create a more flexible drug development model which reduces their costs, enhances their productivity and effectiveness, and increases speed to market.