Moderna, one among several biotech giants that is working to develop a COVID-19 vaccine has chosen Amazon Web Services (AWS), as its preferred cloud provider and platform for running machine learning and analytics workloads.
AWS released this month: “Modera leveraged its mRNA platform, manufacturing facility and the AWS-powered search engine, and delivered the first clinical batch (mRNA-1273), against COVID-19 to NIH for Phase 1 trial 42 day after the initial sequencing.”
Moderna is among the top results in a Google search for “COVID-19 vaccine”, despite many efforts to develop a vaccine against the deadly coronavirus. Operation Warp Speed is a public-private partnership that was created by the federal government to accelerate the development of a vaccine. Moderna is one of eight companies that are funded by Operation Warp Speed.
AWS stated that Moderna has developed proprietary technologies and methods that run in AWS to create mRNA constructions that cells recognize like they were made in the body. Moderna can experiment quickly on any mRNA sequence and easily switch between research priorities without having to invest in new technology. Moderna runs her Drug Design Studio on AWS’s highly-scalable compute and storage infrastructure. This allows her to quickly design mRNA sequences that will target protein targets.
The biotech company is expected to leverage AWS services and technologies, including analytics and machine learning, Redshift fully managed data warehouse service, AWS IoT and more.
Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel stated that “the science behind mRNA medicines has advanced at a rapid rate, and building Moderna’s technology platform on AWS allows our scientists to have the insights, agility and security they need in order to continue leading in the industry.” AWS allows our researchers to quickly design and execute experiments, uncover new insights, and get potentially life-saving treatments into the production line faster. AWS’s wide range and depth of services support our mission to create a new class of medicines for patients. They also play a vital role in our quest for a vaccine against COVID-19 and other potentially life-threatening diseases.
