AstraZeneca invested an additional $140 million in Moderna Therapeutics, a Cambridge, Mass.-based biotech developing drug treatments using messenger RNA, reported Reuters.
AstraZeneca initially invested in Moderna in 2013. With this most recent investment, the British drugmaker boosted its stake in the biotech to 9 percent.
Messenger RNA — which holds the recipe for making proteins in the body — could play a key role in addressing many hard-to-treat diseases like cancer, heart infections and kidney disorders.
Moderna is conducting two Phase I studies for infectious disease vaccines based on the mRNA and is awaiting approval to run a third study of a vascular disease treatment.
Along with AstraZeneca, Moderna also has strategic agreements with New Haven, Conn.-based Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Kenilworth, N.J.-based Merck and Boston-based Vertex Pharmaceuticals.
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