An Erratic FDA Is a Threat to Innovation

Few corporate cautionary tales are as vivid as the rise and fall of Moderna Inc. During the pandemic, the company’s mRNA vaccine was approved and distributed in record time, saving millions of lives and turning a once-obscure startup into a $200 billion behemoth.

Now Moderna is in a tight spot: Hundreds of millions of dollars in grants for mRNA shots were rescinded last year, one of the company’s newest products is in limbo, and its market value has dwindled to about a 10th of its pandemic-era high.