The IRCM’s Martin Sauvageau talks to Radio-Canada : End of American Funding for mRNA Vaccines
Is the Future of mRNA vaccines at stake?
On Tuesday August 5, 2025, The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr the cancellation of funding for 22 mRNA research vaccine projects estimated at a value of 500 millions USD$ (Official announcement: HHS Winds Down mRNA Vaccine Development Under BARDA)
On Radio-Canada’s radio program Ça nous regarde, on August 8, Martin Sauvageau, Director at the IRCM‘s RNA and Noncoding Mechanisms of Disease Research Unit, shares his expert opinion on the consequences of this decision for future scientific innovation and for international collaborations.
Sauvageau points out that RNA technology allows for fast development and is simpler and less costly to produce, making it highly promising. Well beyond its application during COVID-19, it opens the way for innovative treatments against cancer as well as genetic and auto-immune diseases.
The following quotes are translations from their original French
« The United States is dismantling its infrastructure and leadership in this field. […] This will have global repercussions on scientific progress and therapeutic development […] There is a risk of a realignment of forces and knowledge for the development of RNA technologies worldwide. »
« If you talk to all the scientific experts in the medical community and look at the peer-reviewed scientific literature, everyone agrees that messenger RNA technology is revolutionary, promising, and enables the development of effective and safe vaccines. »
