HONG KONG -- Moderna, the U.S. biotech company known for developing an mRNA vaccine against COVID-19, is exploring partnerships in China as it broadens its scope, CEO Stephane Bancel told Nikkei Asia in an interview.

"China and greater China is really important for Moderna," said Bancel, whose company recently reported major breakthroughs in cancer therapy. "There's a lot of people that need medical help, either with the prevention of disease with vaccines or treatments." Moderna's China ambitions come as biotech has emerged as one of the most hotly contested areas in the technology rivalry between the world's two largest economies.

The U.S. in recent years has moved to reduce its reliance on Chinese biotech supply chains. It is also weighing potential curbs on American investment and licensing deals involving Chinese biotech businesses, even as global drugmakers continue to scour China for new drug candidates. Beijing, meanwhile, is tightening its grip on what it considers a strategically important sector, with authorities recently proposing to add five biotech technologies to its export control list.

Bancel said the company has "a number of ongoing discussions in greater China." He said the company's most immediate focus is infectious diseases, including COVID-19, flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), adding that aging populations are likely to increase demand for prevention and treatment. "We'd like to play a role there and will most probably do that through a partnership," he said.

Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel speaks at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, in January 2023.

He sees other opportunities as well. In August, U.S. drugmaker Merck and Moderna released positive initial data from a late-stage clinical trial of an mRNA-based therapy that targets melanoma, a type of skin cancer, in combination with a Merck-developed therapy called Keytruda.

This raised hope for a new class of personalized mRNA cancer vaccines. Bancel argued that such a method could reduce the toxicity, side effects and pain associated with existing cancer treatments such as chemotherapy. Moderna's shares soared nearly threefold after the announcement.

If successful, Merck will lead commercialization of the therapy in international markets, including greater China, Bancel said.

He was also upbeat about prospects for treating lung cancer, the most common form of the disease in China and the cause of the most cancer-related deaths.

"The one that I think is going to be really instrumental is lung cancer," Bancel said. He explained that the company is waiting for more clinical data related to its lung cancer therapy, but said the vaccine could prove to be a game changer, especially in the early stages.

Moderna's previous attempt to push into China ran into intellectual property worries. The company reportedly refused to hand over the recipe of its key mRNA vaccines to Chinese officials as a prerequisite for selling it in the country.

Nevertheless, Bancel in 2023 met with the Communist Party secretary for Shanghai, Chen Jining, and vowed more investments in the Chinese financial hub. The following month, the company registered a subsidiary in Shanghai in a signal of potential expansion, according to a local media report citing corporate registration data.

As of today, China still has not approved any foreign COVID vaccines. Chinese biotech companies are also developing their own mRNA vaccines, including some targeting cancer. Earlier this month, Suzhou-based Abogen Biosciences struck a deal with Swiss drugmaker Novartis for an mRNA-based autoimmune therapy, securing an upfront payment of $575 million. The deal, including options and milestone payments, could end up being worth $7.8 billion, according to a company statement.

Bancel said China's "aggressive investments in mRNA technology" are good for patients and Beijing is "smart in leveraging this emerging scientific platform to support innovation."

When asked about rising nationalism and protectionism in both the U.S. and China, Bancel said he believes "science has always advanced through international collaboration," emphasizing that "we remain pragmatic and partner with the best organizations wherever they are." While China's Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Science and Technology last week added certain biopharmaceutical technologies to the export control list, analysts said that out-licensing, outsourced R&D or manufacturing, and joint R&D were broadly spared. "Authorities said the aim is to protect biosecurity and public health while still allowing legitimate international cooperation," according to a Jefferies report released Tuesday.

Industry players face a different kind of headwind in the U.S. The Department of Health and Human Services has canceled $500 million in funding for mRNA vaccines this year, as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a vaccine skeptic, has said the technology poses "more risks than benefits" for respiratory diseases. The decision will impact 22 projects led by companies including Pfizer and Moderna for vaccines targeting bird flu and other viruses.

Nevertheless, Bancel argued that biotech is increasingly resembling AI, with the U.S. and China emerging as two superpowers with "sufficient scale across research, talent, capital and commercialization" to produce breakthrough innovations.

"We think there's a lot of things we can do with Chinese companies, Chinese hospitals and Chinese academics to bring new medicines for patients," he said. "Science has no frontiers."