The amount of equity flowing into companies developing mRNA-based vaccines has significantly declined so far in 2025, suggesting the financial fallout from policy shifts in the US is starting to take hold.
Venture financing for mRNA-based innovator vaccines has declined 82% in 2025 year-to-date compared to 2023, according to analysis by GlobalData. So far this year, total venture financing deal value has reached $90m, meaning 2025 is unlikely to reach the $510m figure from two years ago.
GlobalData is the parent company of Pharmaceutical Technology.
The trend comes amid a backdrop of volatile policy implementation in the US mRNA sector. Technology using mRNA moved has firmly been in the regulatory crosshairs of health secretary Robert F Kennedy Junior (RFK Jr), who has continually voiced his criticism of mRNA-based Covid-19 vaccines, questioning both their efficacy and safety.
This culminated in a $500m funding cut to mRNA vaccine research funding, impacting around 22 projects being run at the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA). Grants withdrawn were those for infectious disease vaccine candidates, with RFK Jr claiming the modality is ineffective against upper respiratory tract infections.
Despite the Covid-19 pandemic triggering a wave of mRNA-based research and development (R&D), investors have become wary of the modality given the uncertain landscape in the US.
GlobalData senior business fundamentals pharma analyst Alison Labya said: “The success of mRNA vaccines – notably Pfizer’s Comirnaty and Moderna’s Spikevax – against the Covid-19 pandemic fuelled investor confidence, and spurred efforts to expand mRNA technology beyond vaccines into therapeutics across oncology and genetic disorders.”
Analysis by GlobalData indicates there are 232 clinical trials evaluating mRNA vaccines in oncology indications, a volume far higher than any other therapeutic area excluding infectious diseases. Using mRNA vaccines to treat cancer is an area of high promise, with several candidates already producing positive data.
Experts interviewed by Pharmaceutical Technology have warned, however, that the mRNA policy shifts in the US could negatively impact mRNA vaccine growth in this area.
GlobalData anticipates that funding could instead be directed to mRNA-based drugs. For example, Strand Therapeutics raised $153m in venture financing in August 2025, helping advance its portfolio of mRNA-based drugs.
Oncology and infectious diseases account for the biggest proportion of mRNA-based drugs in active development, with 32% and 31% of drugs in the discovery and preclinical stages respectively, and 22% and 65% of drugs in the combined clinical, pre-registration or marketed stages, according to GlobalData’s Pharmaceutical Intelligence Center Drugs Database.
Labya maintains that the federal funding cuts and policy shift will nevertheless be disruptive to the modality’s future.
“The Trump administration’s efforts to scale back federal support for mRNA-based vaccines could disrupt early-stage drug development and create investor uncertainty impacting subsequent private investment. This could shift future investment towards biotech companies and capital sources outside of the US,” Labya comments.
