Moderna says mRNA flu vaccine sailed through trial, beating standard shot

Moderna hailed the results, but the shot's future under RFK Jr. is murky.

An mRNA-based seasonal flu vaccine from Moderna was 27 percent more effective at preventing influenza infections than a standard flu shot, the company announced this week.

Moderna noted that the new shot, dubbed mRNA-1010, hit the highest efficacy target that it set for the trial, which included nearly 41,000 people aged 50 and above. Participants were randomly assigned to receive either mRNA-1010 or a standard shot and were then followed for about six months during a flu season.

Compared to the standard shot, the mRNA vaccine had an overall vaccine efficacy that was 26.6 percent higher, and 27.4 percent higher in participants who were aged 65 years or older. Previous trial data showed that mRNA-1010 generated higher immune responses in participants than both regular standard flu shots and high-dose flu shots.

The company noted that the positive results for the new trial come in the wake of one of the worst flu seasons in years. During the 2024–2025 flu season, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 770,000 people in the US were hospitalized for the flu.

"Today's strong Phase 3 efficacy results are a significant milestone in our effort to reduce the burden of influenza in older adults," Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said in a statement. "The severity of this past flu season underscores the need for more effective vaccines. An mRNA-based flu vaccine has the potential advantage to more precisely match circulating strains, support rapid response in a future influenza pandemic, and pave the way for COVID-19 combination vaccines."

Uncertain future

At present, the fate of promising vaccines such as mRNA-1010 is uncertain as the US health department is currently helmed by anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Under Kennedy, the health department announced that "all new vaccines" would be required to go through placebo-controlled trials. That means that participants in a trial who are not given the experimental vaccine must be given an inert placebo rather than an already-approved vaccine as a comparative group, as was the case in the new trial with mRNA-1010.

Experts have pointed out that giving a placebo to participants when a safe vaccine already exists against potentially life-threatening infections is unethical, which is why it's not done.

Beyond that, Kennedy has canceled grants awarded to Moderna under the Biden administration to develop mRNA-based pandemic influenza vaccines. A health department spokesperson said at the time that the "reality is that mRNA technology remains under-tested."

Last week, Kennedy also worked to restrict access to flu vaccines that contain an ethylmercury-containing preservative, despite decades of data indicating their safety.

Source

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