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2w ago

RFK Jr. Cuts $500M in mRNA Vaccine Funding, Scientists Warn of Research Chill

The administration is relying on a bibliography tied to vaccine skeptics to justify cutting emergency-era mRNA projects, despite analysts finding no basis for canceling the funding.

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Overview

  • HHS has withdrawn roughly $500 million across 22 BARDA and NIH-backed mRNA vaccine development projects targeting late-stage flu, COVID and infectious disease trials.
  • The department’s public statement frames the wind-down as refocusing away from emergency-phase work and restoring confidence in vaccine science.
  • Independent reviewers, including STAT, say the 181-page bibliography cited by HHS is not a systematic analysis and does not support terminating mRNA research.
  • Experts warn the cancellations remove funding for Phase 3 trials, manufacturing scale-up and stockpiling that only BARDA typically underwrites, risking U.S. pandemic preparedness.
  • Researchers contend the cuts could chill innovation in mRNA applications beyond infectious diseases, from personalized cancer vaccines to gene-editing therapeutics.