Today, we will be diving into Moderna. Founded in 2010, Moderna and its innovative RNA platform made headlines after developing one of the first COVID vaccines. We treated this Breakdown slightly different than our other episodes. I’m joined today by two guests. First, I am joined by Jason Kelly, CEO of Gingko Bioworks. He gives us a primer on the biotech industry, genetic modification, and how Moderna’s platform represents a new breakthrough in the industry. Then, I talk to Matthew Harrison, a biotech analyst at Morgan Stanley. We will cover what differentiates Moderna’s business model, how Moderna’s science could lead to faster and higher efficacy drug development, and key takeaways for investors and operators. I hope you enjoy this Breakdown of Moderna.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. -----   This episode is brought to you by Canalyst. Canalyst is the leading destination for public company data and analysis. If you enjoy our exploration of what makes a company tick on Business Breakdowns, Canalyst should be the foundation for your quantitative analysis. For more information and access to the Canalyst model on the business we break down in this episode, go to canalyst.com/breakdowns.   -----   Business Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Business Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @JoinColossus | @patrick_oshag | @jspujji | @zbfuss   Show Notes - Part 1: Jason Kelly [00:02:31] - [First question] - What is a biotech company? [00:03:50] - Defining Moderna as a company in the biotech space [00:05:15] - Bridging the gap between biotech and genentech [00:06:02] - Overview of the history of learning to program cells [00:07:46] - Big milestones from the discovery to the human genome project [00:10:03] - Technical process and tool of how one modifies and copies genes [00:11:45] - The scale and tools of modern DNA design [00:11:41] - Defining printing DNA sequences [00:14:05] - What the Moderna vaccine is and how it works [00:17:24] - The first engineered drug of its kind  [00:18:24] - Other areas where synthetic biology appears in everyday life [00:22:19] - How many sectors this type of technology will disrupt [00:23:32] - The history of Moderna and how they came to be [00:24:41] - What problem Moderna tries to solve and how they approach it [00:27:11] - Unique deal components in therapeutics and the FDA [00:29:06] - Key factors that will make Moderna a dominant player in the near future  [00:30:01] - How Genentech became as big as they did  [00:30:53] - Competitive and compounded advantages for biotech companies [00:32:09] - Lessons for investors and entrepreneurs in studying Moderna’s story   Show Notes - Part 2: Matthew Harrison  [00:34:10] - What is Moderna and how it got started [00:36:10] - Typical route taken for a drug maker and how Moderna is different [00:37:16] - What separates Moderna from others in the biotech space today [00:39:12] - The role software and technology has played a role in Moderna’s success [00:41:42] - Cementing their position through breakthroughs and capitalizing on them  [00:42:58] - How Moderna generates their revenue  [00:44:45] - Overview of cost of sales, expense buckets and gross margin [00:46:20] - Factors involved in how one valuates a biotech company [00:47:15] - How many drugs are in Moderna’s pipeline compared to others [00:47:45] - Drugs being developed that aren’t so currently controversial  [00:51:26] - Risks of drug development and their market potential [00:54:01] - Internal operations of drug development and what separates Moderna [00:55:30] - Advantages of having the ability to customize drug delivery [00:57:17] - Com