CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Moderna, Inc. (Nasdaq: MRNA), a biotechnology company pioneering messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics and vaccines, today announced it is establishing a new charitable foundation to promote public health, healthcare and educational opportunities, particularly in underserved populations. The Moderna Board of Directors has approved an initial up-front endowment of $50 million for the Moderna Charitable Foundation.
“Since Moderna’s founding in 2010, our mission has been about making a transformative positive impact on human lives through our medicines. After a decade of pioneering the development of our mRNA bioplatform, we are humbled to be able to have played such a critical role in combatting the COVID-19 pandemic globally with our vaccine,” said Noubar Afeyan, Co-founder and Chairman of Moderna. “We view Moderna’s work as only just beginning. On behalf of our growing team, partners and shareholders, we are determined to extend Moderna’s societal impact through the formation of the Moderna Charitable Foundation. Having experienced the positive impact such charitable foundations can have on those in need, I look forward to the contributions that we will make.”
“Moderna is committed to making corporate responsibility a critical part of who we are and what we do with a sense of purpose,” said Stéphane Bancel, Chief Executive Officer of Moderna. “We need to embed that sense of corporate responsibility as we commercialize the company, to make sure it is part of our DNA, our culture, forever as we scale. We are passionate about being an active contributor to the communities where we live and work, as well as to global communities impacted by COVID-19 and other diseases. Our recent commitment to provide up to half a billion doses of our vaccine to lower- and middle-income countries through COVAX was a key step in this direction. Now, with the establishment of the Moderna Charitable Foundation, we aspire to make a continuing positive impact - in the decades to come - as we work relentlessly to deliver on our mission for patients.”
The Company is establishing the Foundation, which will focus on charitable, scientific and educational endeavors, with particular emphasis on advancing scientific education and innovation, supporting local and global communities, promoting public health and access to healthcare, and advocating for inclusion and diversity. The Company is applying to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service for designation of the Foundation as a 501(c)(3). Moderna expects that the Foundation will commence operations once 501(c)(3) status is approved and anticipates providing further information about the Foundation’s activities at that time.
About Moderna
In 10 years since its inception, Moderna has transformed from a science research-stage company advancing programs in the field of messenger RNA (mRNA), to an enterprise with a diverse clinical portfolio of vaccines and therapeutics across six modalities, a broad intellectual property portfolio in areas including mRNA and lipid nanoparticle formulation, and an integrated manufacturing plant that allows for both clinical and commercial production at scale and at unprecedented speed. Moderna maintains alliances with a broad range of domestic and overseas government and commercial collaborators, which has allowed for the pursuit of both groundbreaking science and rapid scaling of manufacturing. Most recently, Moderna’s capabilities have come together to allow the authorized use of one of the earliest and most-effective vaccines against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Moderna’s mRNA platform builds on continuous advances in basic and applied mRNA science, delivery technology and manufacturing, and has allowed the development of therapeutics and vaccines for infectious diseases, immuno-oncology, rare diseases, cardiovascular diseases and auto-immune diseases. Today, 24 development programs are underway across these therapeutic areas, with 15 programs having entered the clinic. Moderna has been named a top biopharmaceutical employer by Science for the past six years. To learn more, visit www.modernatx.com.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended, including regarding: the Company’s establishment of a charitable foundation, the areas of focus for that foundation, and plans to apply for 501(c)(3) status for the foundation from the Internal Revenue Service. The forward-looking statements in this press release are neither promises nor guarantees, and you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements because they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond Moderna’s control and which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties, and other factors include those other risks and uncertainties described under the heading “Risk Factors” in Moderna’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and in subsequent filings made by Moderna with the SEC, which are available on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Except as required by law, Moderna disclaims any intention or responsibility for updating or revising any forward-looking statements contained in this press release in the event of new information, future developments or otherwise. These forward-looking statements are based on Moderna’s current expectations and speak only as of the date hereof.
