Moderna vs Regeneron: Founders, CEOs and History
Moderna was founded in 2010 by Derrick Rossi, Robert Langer, Noubar Afeyan and is led by Stéphane Bancel. Regeneron was founded in 1988 by Leonard S. Schleifer, George D. Yancopoulos and is led by Leonard S. Schleifer.
Company facts
Founders
Moderna
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.
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.
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.
Kenneth Chien
Chien's work on modified mRNA encoding VEGF-A for heart repair underpinned Moderna's early cardiovascular collaboration with AstraZeneca.
Regeneron
Leonard S. Schleifer
Leonard S. Schleifer founded Regeneron in 1988 and has led it as CEO since then, making him one of the longest-serving founder-CEOs in the S&P 500. He is also President and Board co-Chair.
George D. Yancopoulos
George D. Yancopoulos joined Regeneron in 1989 as its founding scientist and serves as Board co-Chair, President and Chief Scientific Officer.
CEOs and their tenures
Moderna
- Noubar Afeyan2010–present
Co-Founder & Chairman
Has served as Chairman of the Board of Directors since inception, providing venture financing, governance, and long-term capital strategy that helped build Moderna from a startup laboratory into a public biotechnology enterprise.
Source - Stéphane Bancel2011–present
Chief Executive Officer (first CEO)
Bancel has led Moderna from a pre-revenue startup to a $180 billion market cap at its peak, overseeing the development of Spikevax in record time and the company's transition to a multi-product biotechnology enterprise.
Source - Stephen Hoge2012–present
President
Serves as President directing preclinical research, clinical development, and platform innovation, leading the advancement of Moderna's pipeline from an early research concept into five commercialized vaccines and multiple late-stage Phase 3 oncology candidate…
Source - Jamey Mock2022–present
Chief Financial Officer
Oversees global finance, treasury, accounting, and investor relations, navigating Moderna through post-pandemic revenue contraction while managing cash reserves of $8.1 billion in cash and investments at the end of FY2025.
Source
Regeneron
- Christopher Fenimore
Executive Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer
Oversees finance and capital allocation, including share repurchases and the dividend.
Source - Leonard S. Schleifer, M.D., Ph.D.1988–present
Founder, Board co-Chair, President and CEO
Has led Regeneron since 1988, from platform research to a company with $14.34 billion in FY2025 revenue.
Source - George D. Yancopoulos, M.D., Ph.D.1989–present
Co-Founder, Board co-Chair, President and Chief Scientific Officer
Runs Regeneron Research and the scientific portfolio.
Source
Timeline: Moderna and Regeneron side by side
1988Regeneron
Regeneron is founded
Leonard S. Schleifer founded Regeneron in New York in 1988; George D. Yancopoulos joined in 1989.
1991Regeneron
Regeneron goes public
The company listed on Nasdaq and funded a long period of platform research before becoming a commercial biotech.
2005Moderna
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 app…
2008Regeneron
Arcalyst becomes Regeneron's first approved medicine
Arcalyst validated Regeneron's trap-technology work and showed that the platform could produce approved therapies.
2010Moderna
Moderna 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.
2011Moderna
Stéphane 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.
2011Regeneron
EYLEA approval transforms the company
EYLEA gave Regeneron a major ophthalmology franchise and moved the company into large-scale commercial operations.
2012Moderna
Moderna 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.
2013Moderna
AstraZeneca 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.
2016Moderna
Merck 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).
2017Regeneron
Dupixent is approved
Dupixent, developed with Sanofi, became a global immunology growth engine and a central part of Regeneron's collaboration economics.
2018Moderna
Moderna 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.
2020Moderna
COVID-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.
2020Regeneron
COVID-19 Antibody Authorization
The FDA granted emergency use authorization to Regeneron's COVID-19 antibody treatment in November 2020.
2021Moderna
COVID-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.
2022Moderna
Revenue 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.
2022Regeneron
Checkmate Pharmaceuticals deal expands immuno-oncology
Regeneron agreed to acquire Checkmate Pharmaceuticals for about $250 million to add the investigational TLR9 agonist vidutolimod.
2023Moderna
Revenue 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.
2023Regeneron
Decibel Therapeutics acquisition closes
Regeneron completed its acquisition of Decibel Therapeutics and added hearing-loss gene-therapy programs, including investigational DB-OTO in Phase 1/2 CHORD. It was not an approved therapy.
2023Regeneron
EYLEA HD is approved
The FDA approved EYLEA HD (aflibercept 8 mg) in August 2023, giving Regeneron a longer-dosing successor to EYLEA.
2024Moderna
mRESVIA 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.
2024Regeneron
Regeneron Cell Medicines is formed
Regeneron acquired full development and commercialization rights to 2seventy bio's cell-therapy platforms and pipeline programs.
2025Moderna
Revenue 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.
2025Moderna
CMV 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.
2025Regeneron
Revenue reaches $14.34 billion
Regeneron reported FY2025 revenue of about $14.34 billion, with Dupixent growth offsetting pressure in the original EYLEA franchise.
2026Moderna
FDA 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.
2026Moderna
Intismeran 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-…
2026Regeneron
Q2 2026 revenue rises 17% to $4.3 billion
Dupixent global sales reached $6.0 billion and the Sanofi development balance was fully repaid by the end of the quarter.
Acquisitions
Regeneron
- 2seventy bio platforms and pipeline rights2024$5M
- Decibel Therapeutics2023$109M
- Checkmate Pharmaceuticals2022$250M
Questions about Moderna vs Regeneron
Who is the CEO of Moderna, Inc. and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.?
Moderna, Inc. is led by Stéphane Bancel and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is led by Leonard S. Schleifer. Both serve as the top executive responsible for the company's strategy, operations, and financial performance.
When was Moderna, Inc. founded vs Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.?
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was founded in 1988 — 22 years before Moderna, Inc., which was founded in 2010. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.'s longer operating history gives it a deeper track record but also potentially more institutional inertia compared to the younger Moderna, Inc..
How many employees does Moderna, Inc. have compared to Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.?
Moderna, Inc. employs approximately 4,700 people, while Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. employs approximately 15,410. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has the larger workforce at 15,410 employees, compared to Moderna, Inc.'s 4,700. A higher headcount does not necessarily imply greater efficiency — it often reflects differences in business model (e.g., manufacturing vs. software).
Where are Moderna, Inc. and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. headquartered?
Both Moderna, Inc. and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. are headquartered in United States. Their local rules and tax obligations may still differ.
Who founded Moderna, Inc. and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.?
Moderna, Inc. was founded by Derrick Rossi, Robert Langer, Noubar Afeyan, Kenneth Chien. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was founded by Leonard S. Schleifer, George D. Yancopoulos.
Which company has a longer operating history — Moderna, Inc. or Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.?
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has been operating for approximately 38 years, making it the more established of the two companies. Moderna, Inc. has been in operation for around 16 years. A longer operating history often signals greater institutional resilience and brand recognition, though it can also mean slower adaptation to new market conditions.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Moderna vs Regeneron overview