Moderna is a US pharmaceutical and biotechnology company. It was founded in 2010 by Stanford University postdoctoral fellow Derrick Rossi, along with Timothy A. Springer, Kenneth R. Chien, Bob Langer, and Noubar Afeyan, with the latter helping fund the company through his venture capital firm. Its headquarters are located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Formerly known as ModeRNA Therapeutics, the brand name is a combination of the words “modified” and “RNA”. Within two years of being founded, the company reached a unicorn valuation of over $1bn and has continued to grow in recent years. In particular, it played a key role in the Covid-19 vaccination programme.