Moderna, Inc.
Company History
Moderna History: Founding, Growth & Key Milestones
Founded 2010 in Cambridge, Massachusetts
When was Moderna founded?
Moderna was founded in 2010 in Cambridge, Massachusetts by Derrick Rossi, Robert Langer, Noubar Afeyan and Kenneth Chien, making it 16 years old.
- Founded
- 2010
- Founding place
- Cambridge, Massachusetts
- Founders
- Derrick Rossi, Robert Langer, Noubar Afeyan and Kenneth Chien
- Headquarters today
- Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
- Milestones documented
- 16 (2005–2026)
- Current CEO
- Stéphane Bancel
- Acquisitions
- 1
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 2005 | Karikó and Weissman Publish Modified mRNA Research |
| 2010 | Moderna Therapeutics Founded in Cambridge |
| 2011 | Stéphane Bancel Appointed Founding CEO |
| 2012 | Moderna Emerges from Stealth with $40M Series A |
| 2013 | AstraZeneca mRNA Collaboration |
| 2016 | Merck Partnership for Personalized Cancer Vaccines |
| 2018 | Moderna Completes $604 Million IPO |
| 2020 | COVID-19 Vaccine Development in Record Time |
| 2021 | COVID-19 Vaccine Revenue Reaches $18.5 Billion |
| 2022 | Revenue Peaks at $19.3 Billion |
| 2023 | Revenue Falls to $6.8 Billion |
| 2024 | mRESVIA Approved for RSV Prevention |
| 2025 | Revenue Falls to $1.9 Billion as Costs Are Cut |
| 2025 | CMV Vaccine Fails Phase 3 Primary Endpoint |
| 2026 | FDA Approves mFLUSIVA, First mRNA Flu Vaccine |
| 2026 | Intismeran Autogene Meets Phase 3 Melanoma Endpoint |
- Where was Moderna founded?
- Moderna was founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 2010.
- Who founded Moderna?
- Moderna was founded by Derrick Rossi, Robert Langer, Noubar Afeyan and Kenneth Chien.
- When did Moderna start?
- Moderna was founded in 2010.
- How old is Moderna?
- Moderna is 16 years old as of 2026.
Founding Story
Moderna grew out of a 2010 discovery in Derrick Rossi's Harvard lab that modified mRNA could reprogram cells without triggering a strong immune reaction. Flagship Pioneering's Noubar Afeyan, MIT's Robert Langer and cardiologist Kenneth Chien joined Rossi to found ModeRNA Therapeutics, and Stéphane Bancel became CEO in 2011. The company raised large private rounds and an IPO in December 2018 before any product approval, and its first authorized product came in December 2020 with the COVID-19 vaccine.
Founders
Derrick Rossi
Rossi's discovery gave Moderna its name, from 'modified RNA'. He served on the company's early scientific advisory board but did not run it; Stéphane Bancel was recruited as CEO in 2011. Rossi returned to academic work at Harvard and Boston Children's Hospital and later co-founded Intellia Therapeutics. Derrick Rossi was born in 1966 in Toronto. Education: University of Toronto; Dr Norman Bethune Collegiate Institute.
Robert Langer
Robert Langer has served on Moderna's board of directors since its founding and has been instrumental in guiding the company's scientific strategy and partnerships. His laboratory at MIT continues to conduct foundational research in drug delivery, tissue engineering, and nanotechnology,, the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, and the Charles Stark Draper Prize. His involvement in Moderna provided credibility with investors and scientific collaborators, and his network of academic and industry relationships facilitated partnerships that accelerated the company's development. Langer's continued board service reflects his ongoing commitment to the company's mission of transforming mRNA science into medicines. Robert Langer was born in 1948 in Albany. Education: Cornell University College of Engineering; Cornell University.
Noubar Afeyan
Noubar Afeyan has served as Moderna's chairman since its founding and has been the architect of the company's strategic vision and capital structure. Under his leadership, Flagship Pioneering has built a portfolio of platform biotechnology companies that leverage scientific breakthroughs to create new therapeutic modalities. Afeyan has been instrumental in Moderna's financing strategy, including the 2018 IPO that raised $604 million and valued the company at $7.5 billion, and the subsequent capital raises that funded pandemic-scale manufacturing expansion. His vision of Moderna as a platform company rather than a product company has shaped the company's strategy of maintaining a broad pipeline across multiple therapeutic areas. Afeyan's continued involvement provides strategic continuity and access to Flagship's network of scientific and financial resources. Noubar Afeyan was born in 1962 in Beirut. Education: McGill University; Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Kenneth Chien
Chien's work on modified mRNA encoding VEGF-A for heart repair underpinned Moderna's early cardiovascular collaboration with AstraZeneca. He later moved to the Karolinska Institute in Sweden and stepped back from day-to-day involvement. Kenneth Chien was born in 1951.
Key Milestones
Karikó and Weissman Publish Modified mRNA Research
Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman at the University of Pennsylvania publish foundational research demonstrating that modified nucleosides in mRNA can evade the body's inflammatory response, solving the key obstacle preventing mRNA therapeutics from clinical application. This discovery, later recognized with the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, provides the scientific foundation for all subsequent mRNA vaccine and therapeutic development.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgModerna Therapeutics Founded in Cambridge
Derrick Rossi, Robert Langer, Noubar Afeyan, Kenneth Chien, and Timothy Springer found Moderna Therapeutics in September 2010, with Flagship Pioneering providing seed funding and incubation. The company's name derives from modified RNA, reflecting its core technology platform.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgStéphane Bancel Appointed Founding CEO
Stéphane Bancel, former CEO of bioMérieux and executive at Eli Lilly, joins Moderna as founding CEO, bringing pharmaceutical commercial experience to the scientific founding team. Bancel's appointment signals the company's ambition to become a fully integrated pharmaceutical company rather than a technology licensor.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgModerna Emerges from Stealth with $40M Series A
Moderna emerges from two years of stealth operation with a $40 million Series A financing, revealing its mRNA platform technology to the public for the first time. The company announces plans to develop mRNA therapeutics for rare diseases, cardiovascular disease, and oncology.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgAstraZeneca mRNA Collaboration
Moderna signs a collaboration with AstraZeneca in March 2013 including a $240 million upfront payment to discover and develop mRNA therapeutics for cardiovascular, metabolic, renal and cancer targets, before any Moderna drug had been tested in humans.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgMerck Partnership for Personalized Cancer Vaccines
Moderna and Merck agree in 2016 to co-develop personalized mRNA cancer vaccines combined with Keytruda, the collaboration behind mRNA-4157 (later named intismeran autogene).
Source: en.wikipedia.orgModerna Completes $604 Million IPO
Moderna lists on Nasdaq in December 2018, raising about $604 million at a valuation of roughly $7.5 billion, one of the largest biotech IPOs at the time.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgCOVID-19 Vaccine Development in Record Time
Moderna selects mRNA-1273 as its COVID-19 vaccine candidate on January 13, 2020, just two days after the SARS-CoV-2 sequence was published. The vaccine enters Phase 1 trial on March 16, 2020, and receives FDA Emergency Use Authorization on December 18, 2020, just 11 months after sequence selection, shattering all vaccine development records.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgCOVID-19 Vaccine Revenue Reaches $18.5 Billion
Moderna reports 2021 revenue of $18.5 billion and net income of $12.2 billion, almost entirely from its COVID-19 vaccine, its first year of profitability.
Source: sec.govRevenue Peaks at $19.3 Billion
Moderna reports 2022 revenue of $19.3 billion and net income of $8.4 billion, the high point of pandemic sales, as Spikevax is approved and sold under commercial contracts.
Source: sec.govRevenue Falls to $6.8 Billion
Revenue drops to $6.8 billion in 2023 as COVID vaccination turns seasonal, and Moderna posts a $4.7 billion net loss including write-downs tied to excess manufacturing commitments.
Source: sec.govmRESVIA Approved for RSV Prevention
The FDA approves mRESVIA (mRNA-1345) in May 2024 for RSV prevention in adults 60 and older, Moderna's first non-COVID product. Full-year revenue falls to $3.2 billion, and in September 2024 Moderna cuts planned R&D spending and moves its cash-breakeven target to 2028.
Source: sec.govRevenue Falls to $1.9 Billion as Costs Are Cut
Moderna reports 2025 revenue of $1.94 billion and a $2.82 billion net loss, while cutting operating expenses by about $2.2 billion. The FDA approves mNEXSPIKE in May 2025, and a July 2025 workforce reduction of about 10% takes headcount to roughly 4,700 by year-end.
Source: sec.govCMV Vaccine Fails Phase 3 Primary Endpoint
Moderna says in October 2025 that its cytomegalovirus vaccine mRNA-1647 failed its Phase 3 primary endpoint and discontinues the congenital CMV program.
Source: sec.govFDA Approves mFLUSIVA, First mRNA Flu Vaccine
After an initial FDA refusal-to-file letter early in 2026 was resolved, the FDA approves mFLUSIVA (mRNA-1010) on August 5, 2026 for adults 50 and older, full approval for ages 50-64 and accelerated approval for 65 and older.
Source: biopharmadive.comIntismeran Autogene Meets Phase 3 Melanoma Endpoint
On August 19, 2026 Merck and Moderna report that intismeran autogene plus Keytruda met the primary endpoint of recurrence-free survival and the key secondary endpoint of distant metastasis-free survival in the Phase 3 INTerpath-001 trial in resected stage IIB-IV melanoma.
Source: merck.comMajor Acquisitions
OriCiro Genomics
2023Moderna bought Japan-based OriCiro Genomics in January 2023 for about $85 million to gain cell-free DNA synthesis and amplification technology used to make the DNA templates for mRNA production.
Keep researching Moderna
Moderna Company History FAQ
What are the major historical milestones in Moderna's corporate journey since 2010?
Key historical milestones include founding in Cambridge in 2010, landmark $240M partnership with AstraZeneca in 2013, record $604M NASDAQ IPO in 2018, designing Spikevax in 48 hours in January 2020, FDA Emergency Use Authorization for Spikevax in December 2020, generating $18B+ in revenue in 2021 to 2022, Phase 2b clinical success for personalized cancer vaccine in 2022, and FDA approval of mRESVIA in 2024.
How did Moderna design the COVID-19 vaccine mRNA-1273 in just 48 hours in January 2020?
On Saturday, January 11, 2020, researchers in Wuhan published the full genome of the novel coronavirus. By Monday, January 13, Moderna's computational scientists and NIH partners finalized the digital mRNA sequence encoding the prefusion-stabilized spike protein, shipping the first clinical-grade vials to the NIH on February 24, 2020 (42 days later).
What was Operation Warp Speed and how did it accelerate Moderna's Phase 3 COVE trial?
Under the US federal Operation Warp Speed initiative, the US government provided over $2.5 billion in funding for Moderna's Phase 3 clinical trial and pre-purchased hundreds of millions of vaccine doses. Moderna enrolled 30,000 diverse participants in just 12 weeks, demonstrating 94.1% vaccine efficacy in November 2020.
What was the historic FDA Emergency Use Authorization of Spikevax on December 18, 2020?
On December 18, 2020, the US FDA granted Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine, marking the first commercial product approval in Moderna's 10-year history and validating mRNA technology as a triumphant new class of human medicines.
How did Moderna scale global manufacturing from 0 to 800 million doses in 2021?
Moderna orchestrated a large global manufacturing network: expanding its Norwood facility, partnering with Lonza in Switzerland and the US, securing raw lipid ingredients from global chemical suppliers, and delivering over 800 million doses across 70+ nations in 2021.
What was the landmark December 2022 Phase 2b cancer vaccine readout with Merck?
In December 2022, Moderna and Merck announced that their personalized mRNA cancer vaccine (mRNA-4157) combined with Keytruda reduced the risk of melanoma recurrence or death by 44% compared to Keytruda alone in surgical melanoma patients, marking the first randomized clinical trial in history to prove the efficacy of an mRNA cancer vaccine.
When was mRESVIA approved by the FDA in 2024 and why was it significant?
In May 2024, the US FDA approved mRESVIA (mRNA-1345) for RSV prevention in older adults, marking Moderna's second commercial product approval and proving that its mRNA platform could successfully commercialize non-COVID respiratory vaccines.
How has Moderna transformed the future of medicine through mRNA technology?
Moderna proved that the human body can act as its own pharmaceutical factory: using synthetic messenger RNA to rapidly instruct cells to fight deadly viral outbreaks, eradicate personalized metastatic tumors, and cure life-threatening genetic disorders in real time.
How was Moderna founded in Cambridge in 2010?
Moderna was established in 2010 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, as "ModeRNA Therapeutics" by stem cell scientist Derrick Rossi, MIT bioengineer Robert Langer, Flagship Pioneering CEO Noubar Afeyan, and physician Kenneth Chien. Rossi had discovered how to use synthetic modified mRNA (incorporating pseudouridine) to safely direct cells to produce specific proteins without triggering a destructive immune attack, laying the groundwork for a revolutionary new drug class.
How did Moderna design its COVID-19 vaccine in just 48 hours?
On January 11, 2020, Chinese authorities published the genetic sequence of SARS-CoV-2 online. Because Moderna treats mRNA as digital software code, its computational biology team designed the exact sequence for mRNA-1273 (Spikevax) over a single weekend in just 48 hours. By February 24, 2020, Moderna had manufactured and shipped the first clinical batch to the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) for Phase 1 trials.
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