In the innovation alphabet, R comes before D

At an April 29 press conference at McGill University, Moderna and the governments of Canada and Quebec announced Montreal would be the location of the biotech company’s new RNA vaccine production facility and associated research laboratory. As a result, said Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne, “we are going to invent the future of vaccines in Canada.” A whole host of activities led up to this historic announcement: some recent, and some a long time ago. Near the beginning of the pandemic, the Government of Canada took a calculated risk, advance ordering Moderna’s vaccine, thus helping the company begin manufacturing. But the Canadian contribution to Moderna began much earlier, with McGill professor Nahum Sonenberg’s fundamental research on mRNA, which is at the heart of Moderna RNA vaccine technology. The biotech success story is a case study in why R (research) really does come before D (development) in the innovation alphabet. For more than 40 years, Sonenberg and his team have been untangling various aspects of mRNA biology: how it is made, how it is regulated, and what governs its translation into proteins in different cells. Of particular relevance are the studies by Sonenberg and fellow McGill professor Jerry Pelletier on the structural determinants of mRNA stability and translatability. These advances contributed to Moderna’s ability to use mRNA in COVID-19 vaccines and future RNA therapies. Sonenberg served as a consultant for Moderna and Flagship Pioneering, the firm that funded and guided the creation of Moderna. The companies have additional ties to Canada and McGill in particular through Noubar Afeyan, the co-founder and current chair of the board of Moderna and the founder of Flagship, and Avak Kahvejian (Flagship), a graduate of Sonenberg’s lab. Of course, it was not a lone researcher’s discoveries, no matter how groundbreaking, that helped attract Moderna to Montreal. It was the city’s research ecosystem, with dozens of other RNA researchers and their teams of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. Montreal’s research capacity provides the pipeline of highly trained talent that Moderna needs to create and produce the next generation of therapeutics. That research capacity is built on funding for fundamental research. Discoveries stemming from work such as Sonenberg’s often take time to reap economic, health or social benefits, which can frustrate governments who want immediate returns. However, investment in foundational research does produce short-term gains: it's people, both the experts who advise innovative companies and the graduates who are employed by them. The vast majority of research funding from Canada’s granting councils goes toward supporting graduate students and post-doctoral fellows, the highly qualified personnel that companies are desperately trying to recruit. Canada has seen welcome increases in research talent at its universities. One indicator of this is the 40 per cent growth between 2007 and 2020 of PhD students, who play an integral role in research. With increases in the number of Canada Research Chairs and the creation of Canada Excellence Research Chairs, the attraction of some the world’s best researchers is a success story. However, for that talent to do their important work, we need steady, incremental investment in research grants: investment that increases with inflation and grows with the numbers of researchers and graduate students. Even with new government investments coming online, inflation-adjusted funding for academic research increased by only eight per cent between 2007 and 2020. Per-capita funding has shrunk. Underfunding leaves potential breakthroughs unrealized. The pandemic pointed out some cracks in our system, such as the lack of domestic manufacturing capacity for vaccines, which the federal government is remedying. It also revealed opportunities. It brought together people across sectors, building stronger networks and collaborations. The pandemic also revealed the promise of RNA therapies to revolutionize medical treatments for many diseases and unveiled Canada’s expertise in this field. Targeted research funding for priorities such as biomanufacturing, artificial intelligence or sustainable agriculture is crucial for Canada’s future. But if we want to attract and retain more companies like Moderna, we also need the talent and discoveries stemming from curiosity-driven research. Martha Crago is McGill University’s Vice-Principal (Research and Innovation) and Chair of the Governing Council of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). Philippe Gros is McGill University’s Deputy Vice-Principal (Research and Innovation) and a professor in the Department of Biochemistry. The Hill Times