‘When the spotlight found Moderna, they were ready’: How the Cambridge biotech company became a world renowned success story Scott Kirsner A year ago, Moderna was not on anyone’s “Most Likely to Succeed” list. Popular Searches As the Cambridge biotech approached its 10th year, the company had yet to get a single product approved for sale by government regulators. Investors weren’t particularly hot on its potential, either ― after going public in December 2018, Moderna’s stock price hadn’t done much over the ensuing 12 months. There was skepticism about the company’s approach — using custom-crafted RNA to instruct the body’s cells to battle a disease or virus ― partly because Moderna hadn’t disclosed much data about it. And there were questions about its focus on a dim corner of the biotechology industry that, in the words of biotech entrepreneur and former Biogen research executive Michael Gilman, was “neither sexy nor lucrative” ― vaccine development.