Randall Hyer

CEO Merlin Biotech

Dr. Hyer has 20+ years’ development experience in biotechnology with vaccines, biologics, and biosimilars working at Merck, MSD (KK), Novartis/Sandoz, Dynavax, and Moderna. As the Senior Vice President for Global Medical at Moderna, Dr. Hyer helped develop, communicate, and manage the global rollout of the Moderna COVID-19 mRNA vaccine. In 2017, he was pivotal in engaging the scientific, medical and policy communities to achieve FDA (and later EMA) approval of a new adult hepatitis B vaccine (HEPLISAV-B®), the first vaccine using a truly novel adjuvant. Beyond development, his responsibilities have included managing large teams, directing vaccine and pharmaceutical safety programs, overseeing oncology and vaccine clinical operations, running data management and statistical teams, engaging scientists and policymakers, and managing crises. Dr. Hyer is Board-certified in general preventive medicine and public health and earned his MD from Duke, MPH from Harvard and trained at Walter Reed. He received the PhD from the University of Oxford researching the genetics of juvenile diabetes. His studies won the NIH “Outstanding Research Award for Clinical Trainees” and are widely cited. At Oxford University, Dr. Hyer founded (and sold) the biotechnology company, Alpha-Plus DNA.

Seminars

Tuesday 21st July 2026
CEO & mRNA Leaders Think Tank: From CAR-T Platforms, Gene Editing Triumphs & Cancer Immunotherapy Clinical Advances; Navigating mRNA’s Potential into New Therapies & Tools Towards Better Drugs for Patients Faster
9:00 am
  • What are the future opportunities, promising targets and applications on the horizon for mRNA to achieve commercial success?
  • How are recent mRNA and LNP platform acquisitions fueling next generation innovations from science to strategy?
  • Linear, circular, self-amplifying, trans-amplifying RNA – Which modality offers the most efficiency?
  • With clinical trials moving towards the far East and Australia, what opportunities does this open for the mRNA industry to progress faster to clinical validation?
Wednesday 22nd July 2026
Development of a Novel Immune Modulator Delivered via mRNA for Pediatric & Adult Solid Cancers: Pre-Clinical & Clinical Strategy
12:00 pm
  • USP6 (a de-ubiquitinase) has data in over 15 cancer types
  • MER-101 (mRNA encoding USP6) is being studied in combination with checkpoint inhibitors in a humanized mouse model
  • MER-101 is being developed for broad pediatric and adult indications including the rare pediatric Ewing sarcoma helping open a large adult market
Randall Hyer - 6th mRNA-Based Therapeutics Summit Speaker