Everest Medicines hires two former Moderna cancer vaccine scientists for mRNA push

Two Moderna veterans join the mRNA team

Everest Medicines (HKEX 1952.HK) said the appointments strengthen its global R&D capabilities in mRNA therapeutics and support its proprietary mRNA platform and pipeline. According to the company, both executives will drive clinical development of its mRNA programs and expand Everest's presence in the United States, while working closely with the China R&D team.

Mr. Yifang Wu, Chairman of the Board, said: "Their deep experience in cancer vaccine research, translational medicine, and clinical development will be highly valuable as we advance our proprietary mRNA platform and broader pipeline." The company also said it will continue to invest in "world-class talent" for its mRNA programs.

Backgrounds in personalized neoantigen vaccines

Dr. Srinivasan is an immunologist with 20 years of experience in immuno-oncology, according to the release. From 2023 to 2025 she was Executive Director and Head of Oncology Translational Medicine at Moderna Therapeutics. She previously held leadership roles at Repertoire Immune Medicines, Neon Therapeutics (later acquired by BioNTech) and Sanofi Oncology. She was corresponding author on Phase 1b studies of NEO-PV-01 published in Cell (2020) and Cancer Cell (2022), and co-authored publications on Moderna's intismeran autogene (mRNA-4157/V940), including the Phase 1 KEYNOTE-603 study and the three-year follow-up of the randomized Phase 2b KEYNOTE-942 study.

Dr. Coder has more than 11 years of industry experience advancing T cell immunotherapies from discovery through IND submissions and early clinical proof of concept. He worked at Moderna from 2019 to 2025, most recently as Associate Scientific Director of Cancer Vaccine Research. He served as research and global pharmacology lead for intismeran autogene and co-authored the KEYNOTE-603 study. Everest also says he co-invented and led development of the shared-antigen discovery and vaccine design framework for mRNA-4359 and mRNA-4106. Earlier, he was Associate Director of Immuno-Oncology Research at Advaxis Immunotherapies.

The pipeline they will work on

Everest describes its AI+mRNA platform as fully integrated, covering antigen design, sequence optimization, LNP delivery and scalable manufacturing. The company says its internal lipid library holds more than 600 lipids and supports programs including vaccines and in vivo CAR-T therapies.

• EVM16, a personalized mRNA cancer vaccine, has completed its first-in-human data readout. Everest reports a favorable safety and tolerability profile, robust immunogenicity and promising preliminary efficacy, with selected data presented at the 2026 AACR Annual Meeting. A Phase 1b investigator-initiated trial is planned for Q4 2026, and the company plans a U.S. FDA IND application in the first half of 2027.
• EVM14, an off-the-shelf tumor-associated antigen mRNA cancer vaccine, received U.S. FDA IND clearance and China NMPA IND approval in 2025. The Phase 1 monotherapy dose-escalation study is expected to finish in Q1 2027.
• EVM18, an in vivo CAR-T therapy, is being evaluated in an investigator-initiated trial in autoimmune diseases, with a global IND filing underway.

What it means

The hires put people with direct experience in personalized and off-the-shelf mRNA cancer vaccines into leadership roles just as Everest's programs approach several milestones, from the EVM16 Phase 1b trial to the planned U.S. IND filing. The emphasis on expanding in the United States points to a pipeline aimed at global development rather than China alone. The release does not give financial terms or any new clinical data, so the impact will depend on how the planned trials and filings proceed.