AURA vs MRNA

Aura Biosciences Inc.

Aura Biosciences, Inc. operates as a biotechnology company that develops therapies to treat cancer. The company develops virus-like drug conjugates (VDC) technology platform to treat tumors of high unmet need in ocular and urologic oncology. Its AU-011, a VDC candidate, is being developed for the first line treatment of primary choroidal melanoma, a rare disease with no drugs approved. The company also develops AU-011 in additional ocular oncology indications, including choroidal metastases. Aura Biosciences, Inc. was incorporated in 2009 and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Moderna Inc.

Moderna, Inc., a biotechnology company, develops therapeutics and vaccines based on messenger RNA for the treatment of infectious diseases, immuno-oncology, rare diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and auto-immune diseases. As of March 9, 2021, the company had 13 programs in clinical trials and a total of 24 development programs in six modalities comprising prophylactic vaccines, cancer vaccines, intratumoral immuno-oncology, localized regenerative therapeutics, systemic secreted and cell surface therapeutics, and systemic intracellular therapeutics. The company has strategic alliances with AstraZeneca PLC, Merck & Co., Inc., Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (Europe) Limited, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the National Institutes of Health, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Moderna, Inc. also has collaborations with Lonza Ltd. for the manufacture of COVID-19 vaccine; and Catalent Inc., Laboratorios Farmacéuticos Rovi, S.A., Recipharm, and Lonza Group for fill-finish manufacturing of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, as well as Aldevron, LLC for supporting COVID-19 vaccine and additional programs in company's clinical development pipeline. The company was formerly known as Moderna Therapeutics, Inc. and changed its name to Moderna, Inc. in August 2018. Moderna, Inc. was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.