The news: The Trump administration cancelled Moderna’s more than $760 million contract to develop mRNA-based pandemic vaccines.

Zooming in: Moderna won $590 million in funding under the Biden administration in January for research on its bird flu vaccine, plus expanded clinical trials for pandemic influenza. The cancelled work includes an initial $176 million grant last July for the bird flu research.

Why it matters: It adds to increasing doubt around the safety and validity of mRNA vaccines among the Trump administration. For context, two of the three FDA-approved COVID-19 shots, from Moderna and Pfizer, are mRNA vaccines.

• HHS Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. said this week that the CDC is dropping COVID-19 recommendations for pregnant women and children. Kennedy has also called for vaccines to be developed without mRNA technology earlier this month and criticized mRNA vaccines on social media in the past, per the New York Times.
• The NIH directed scientists to remove references to mRNA technology in grant applications earlier this year, per Scientific American, causing concern among researchers about mRNA’s future.
• Several states are considering legislation to ban or limit the manufacture or sales of mRNA vaccines, including criminal penalties such as a new Minnesota bill that would classify mRNA vaccines as weapons of mass destruction and could lead to up to 20 years in prison.

Yes, and: Public perception of mRNA vaccines is also waning in the post-pandemic era.

• Only 32% of Americans think mRNA vaccines are safe, while 16% believe they are unsafe, per a KFF Tracking Poll earlier this month.
• More than half (52%) say they don’t know enough to say either way.

Yes, but: mRNA technology has been used in research for more than 50 years. While the speed to market of COVID-19 vaccines stirred conspiracies, its potential use expands to other diseases and conditions.

• An estimated 280 mRNA preclinical and clinical trials were underway in December, per the Chemical Abstracts Service. More than 70% of the studies are non-COVID-19 and include 60 for cancer vaccines, as well as HIV and rare disease studies.
• Moderna and Merck are working together on a late-stage mRNA cancer vaccine, and Pfizer, Sanofi, AstraZeneca and GSK have mRNA vaccines in their R&D pipelines.

Our take: With so many pharma and biotech companies using mRNA in research and approvals beyond COVID on the horizon, it’s unlikely either the administration or states will succeed in banning it. However, conflicting messages from federal agencies will lead to more confusion for consumers and uncertainty for pharma companies looking for vaccine guidance from the government.

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