Malta’s Role In Creating A COVID Vaccine

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Moderna’s announcement that their vaccine is showing a 94% success rate in studies made so far made waves around the world. The wave that just arrived to our shores, however, is that Moderna’s founder has a very direct link to our little island.

The Malta Connection

As detailed in an article on the National Post, Derrick Rossi was the last of 5 siblings born to Maltese parents in Canada, parents who moved there in search of a better life. He discovered a love for science in high school, particularly molecular biology, and never looked back since then.

Following a catalogue of achievements, he became a professor at Harvard but that only lasted a couple of years. Colleagues tried persuading him to stay (to no avail) and he opted to retire while in his 50s, simply because he could.

His role at Moderna

Although he cut ties in 2014, the vaccine Moderna worked on still relied a lot on the research that put him on the map many years ago. His studies focused on altering the blueprints of cells in order to cure ailments such as haemophilia, cystic fibrosis, sickle cell anaemia and several more.

Officially, he has no role at the company he helped create, although he owns a majority share. In fact, about the recent developments, all he had to say was they’re “pretty cool”, but there’s still a long road ahead in terms of remaining tests.

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