Korea University’s Vaccine Innovation Center (VIC-K) and US biotech firm Moderna (formerly ModeRNA Therapeutics), made world-famous by its multibillion-dollar Covid-19 vaccine profits, have been jointly developing an mRNA-based hantavirus vaccine since signing a research and development agreement in September 2023, with the candidate now awaiting funding to begin human clinical trials.
The deal was struck under Moderna’s mRNA Access initiative, a programme that supplies preclinical mRNA vaccine candidates to academic teams working on emerging or neglected infectious diseases. The two sides had begun exploring possible collaboration as early as 2021.
A research team led by Professor Park Man-sung of Korea University College of Medicine’s microbiology department confirmed in February 2025 that experimental doses prevented hantavirus infection in mice, according to Seoul Economic Daily.
Under the agreement, VIC-K provided Moderna with hantavirus antigen sequence information and Moderna in turn supplied the corresponding mRNA material, which the centre then used in antigen expression studies. The Korean partner had hosted an mRNA Access Partnership Seminar with Moderna on July 4, 2024 to set out the joint roadmap.
Hantavirus causes Haemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome, marked by high fever, bleeding and kidney damage. Korea records 300 to 400 cases a year, mostly among young men in their twenties and thirties on military service, and the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency has placed the pathogen on its list of nine priority threats for future pandemic preparedness.
The World Health Organization has classified hantavirus as a possible “Disease X” pathogen. An older Korean inactivated vaccine, Hantavax, has been available since 1990 but offers limited long-term protection and does not cover hantavirus pulmonary syndrome strains found in the West.
VIC-K director Heejin Cheong said when the partnership was first announced that the project was meant to “continue the legacy” of Korea University Emeritus Professor Lee Ho-wang, who first isolated the virus in 1976. Moderna chief medical officer Francesca Ceddia said at the time that the deal would “strengthen mRNA vaccine research and development capabilities in Korea”.
The collaboration has been supported in part by a 10 billion won (€6.5 million) personal donation from Hyundai Motor Group Honorary Chairman Chung Mong-koo, who had previously given 100 billion won (€65 million) to establish the centre at Korea University.
Producing clinical-grade material at Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) facilities, though, requires between 10 billion won (€6.5 million) and 20 billion won (€13 million) – sums that exceed the team’s available budget. Seoul Economic Daily reported on April 13, 2026 that human clinical trials had been on hold for more than a year while researchers waited to be selected for a national project.
Such sums are dwarfed by Moderna’s pandemic earnings. The company booked revenues of $18.5 billion (€17 billion) in 2021 and $19.3 billion (€17.8 billion) in 2022, mostly from Spikevax Covid-19 vaccine sales, before total revenue fell to $6.8 billion (€6.3 billion) in 2023.
