mRNA vaccine venture financing plunges 82%to $90m in 2025 YTD

The decline follows a $500m cut in grant support by the US HHS.

Venture financing for mRNA-based innovator vaccines declined by 82% from $510m in 2023 to $90m year-to-date (YTD) in 2025, according to GlobalData.

The decline follows a $500m cut in grant support for mRNA vaccine projects by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in August.

The report noted that with HHS funding cuts focusing on infectious disease vaccines, investor attention may shift toward non-vaccine applications of mRNA technology.

“This could shift future investment towards biotech companies and capital sources outside of the US,” said Alison Labya, Senior Business Fundamentals Pharma Analyst at GlobalData.

Venture financing for companies developing innovator mRNA-based drugs more than halved from $1.1bin in 2023 to $488m in 2024, recovering slightly to $539m by 2025YTD.

Meanwhile, oncology and infectious diseases were the primary therapy areas for mRNA-based drug financing, attracting $1.3b and $936m, respectively, over the period. These areas also accounted for the largest shares of drugs in development.

“For therapy areas outside of infectious disease and oncology, 91% of the total mRNA-based drugs remain in the preclinical or discovery stages of development with no marketed drugs,” Labya added.