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Adams stated on August 5 in a post on X: “I’ve tried to be objective & non-alarmist in response to current HHS actions – but quite frankly this move is going to cost lives.” He added, “mRNA technology has uses that go far beyond vaccines… and the vaccine they helped develop in record time is credited with saving millions.”
The HHS, now led by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., announced on August 5 it would cut nearly $500 million at the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), which supports mRNA vaccine technology development.
Kennedy called the vaccine technology “ineffective” in a video posted on X on August 5, but Adams emphasized its broader applications. Messenger RNA is used in two of the most common COVID-19 vaccines licensed in the U.S.: Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.
Messenger RNA instructs cells to produce viral proteins, which trigger an immune response. Unlike some other vaccines, mRNA ones cannot cause the disease they aim to prevent or trigger allergies to traditional vaccine ingredients.
Defunding mRNA technology means losing resources for improving vaccine technologies against infectious diseases like COVID-19 and bird flu, as well as cancers. It also sends a “chilling” message to vaccine companies about continuing this type of research in the U.S., potentially leading them to move operations abroad.
Jeff Coller, a Bloomberg Distinguished Professor at Johns Hopkins University, warned that this could displace the U.S. as the world leader in biotechnology and make mRNA therapies more expensive here. “The rest of the world is doubling down on mRNA medicines,” he said. “The decision coming from Kennedy is essentially destroying our dominance in the biotech space.”
