TThe man who launched Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine in Britain three years ago – when 90-year-old Margaret Keenan in Coventry became the first person in the world to receive one – is now overseeing the construction of a production facility and research center in Oxfordshire for rival US jab maker Moderna.
The company’s Harwell site is the first UK center dedicated to the production of messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines against new Covid variants and other diseases, and is part of the UK’s ‘100 days mission’ initiative – the ambition for governments to respond to future pandemics within 100 days that a threat is identified.
Moderna and others are using mRNA — which teaches cells how to make a specific protein that triggers the body’s immune response against disease — to develop therapies for several conditions, including cancer, HIV, norovirus and rare diseases, especially those in children .
Darius Hughes, who trained as a pharmacist and worked for Pfizer for 17 years before being poached by Moderna in 2021 to set up its UK operation as managing director, says: “The flexibility of the messenger RNA platform means that within approximately 100 days after any mutation, we can reformulate and commercialize a vaccine ready for human vaccination. That is a lot faster than a traditional vaccine platform.”
With Moderna working on combined flu and Covid shots, he says, “the Department of Health can come to us and request a specific UK mix for UK patients. We can combine a lot of messenger RNAs so you can make it really easy for the NHS to deliver.”
Moderna developed one of the world’s first two Covid jabs based on mRNA during the pandemic – Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech were behind the other – and both were quick to adapt their shots to the Omicron variants in 2022 .
However, the virus remains a problem for the NHS, which has come under pressure in recent weeks due to a sharp rise in Covid and flu admissions to hospital. Nevertheless, Covid injections are now only being given by the NHS to over-65s, people with underlying health conditions, healthcare workers and carers.
Moderna plans to make its Covid jab privately available in Britain later this year. It is expected to cost between £50 and £100 – versus £9 to £20 for a flu jab – but pharmacies and private clinics will set their own prices, says Hughes. The company’s Spikevax jab can already be bought over the counter in the US for around $120 (£100). Pfizer is also exploring selling its Comirnaty Covid jab privately in Britain.
Moderna is also focusing its mRNA know-how on rare diseases in children and personalized cancer vaccines. “For rare diseases, we use an intravenous injection,” says Hughes. “We post some messages there that help the body produce a protein that is missing in children.” The diseases targeted include hereditary metabolic disorders in which the body cannot break down certain proteins and fats.
For skin cancer, Moderna takes some of the tumor cells cut out during surgery, sequences the patient’s DNA and makes mRNA signals. These are injected into the body and tell the body to produce antibodies to attack the cancer cells. “Unlike normal cancer therapy, which kills everything quite randomly, these are like targeted missiles,” says Hughes.
Larger late-stage clinical trials led by Moderna’s partner Merck (known outside the US as MSD) are beginning in Britain and elsewhere, and Moderna says the vaccine could be released under accelerated approval in some countries by 2025. for non-small cell lung cancer is also in preparation.
Moderna hopes to launch a combined flu and Covid vaccine next year, followed in 2026 by a triple shot that includes not only flu and Covid, but also respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which can cause serious illness and hospitalizations in children and the elderly cause.
The company has submitted a new RSV vaccine to regulators for regulatory approval, but is lagging behind British rivals GSK and Pfizer, whose RSV vaccines are already on the market. Meanwhile, a recent study from Sanofi and AstraZeneca indicated the jab could reduce RSV hospital admissions in babies and young children by 80%.
Harwell will be Moderna’s largest base outside the US: the laboratory is already in place and will open later this year. About 150 people will work at the site, including 50 scientists. The factory is expected to produce up to 100 million vaccine doses per year from 2025, which could be increased to 250 million doses by running three shifts a day, seven days a week, if another pandemic were to occur – “enough for Britain and beyond,” says Hughes.
He describes himself as a ‘failed doctor’ because he was good at science and maths at school in his home town of Poole, Dorset, but failed to get the grades for medical school. Ultimately, he ‘loved’ studying pharmacy at the University of Portsmouth.
After a six-month stint in the NHS, he worked for Boots for 15 years and then joined the pharmaceutical industry, with various roles at Pfizer, including a two-year stint in Paris and seven years running the UK vaccines division. Kingdom and Ireland.
After delivering 15 million Covid shots for Pfizer in early 2021, Hughes was exhausted, having worked long hours seven days a week for a year. So when he got a call from Moderna asking him to become their first commercial employee in the UK, he was ready for a change.
Although they appear promising, personalized cancer vaccines pose challenges in clinical trials and regulatory approval because they are “individualized to a particular person” – but Hughes believes they are the future.
“Medicine is becoming personalized, and that doesn’t just apply to vaccines and cancer,” he says. “We will have to lead the way in this.”
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He says the government has not offered any incentives in return for setting up Moderna’s first mRNA vaccine center in Britain. However, the UK has committed to purchasing Moderna’s therapies over the next decade and ordered 60 million doses of its Covid vaccine in December 2021; a tranche of this will be delivered during the current booster campaign.
Globally, Moderna has delivered more than 1 billion doses of its Covid vaccine – its only commercial product – but has been criticized for high prices, which resulted in sales of $18.4 billion in 2022. They have since fallen to 6, $7 billion last year after the disaster. The US has declared the pandemic over and is expected to fall to $4 billion this year. The company wrote off unused doses and made a pre-tax loss of $4 billion in the nine months to September 30. The goal is to break even in 2026.
As part of being 10-year collaboration with the governmentModerna is building a UK supply chain, including vials and needles, to ensure Britain is prepared for the next pandemic. The company has launched 17 clinical trials in Britain since 2021, including trials of Covid-19, influenza and RSV, with plans to launch further trials of rare diseases and combination vaccines in Britain.
One of Moderna’s investors is the hedge fund Thélème Partners, which Rishi Sunak co-founded before quitting to enter politics in 2013. It is unclear whether he will retain an interest in the fund. “We are not aware of any information regarding individuals who contributed to the Thélème hedge fund,” Moderna said.
CV
Age 55
Family Married with two growing daughters.
Education Poole Grammar School; studied pharmacy at the University of Portsmouth.
Last holiday Skiing in France.
The best advice he’s received “Enjoy the journey.”
Biggest career mistake “Take the easy way out and don’t overextend yourself.”
Overused phrase “Keep it simple.”
How he relaxes Running, playing tennis and going to the pub with family and friends.