US biotech company Moderna to build $500m mRNA facility in Africa

Moderna will invest up to $500 million to construct a messenger RNA facility (mRNA facility) in Africa with an aim to produce up to 500 million doses of vaccines annually at the 50 µg dose level.

The US biotech company said that the new facility will have capabilities for drug substance manufacturing with the scope for fill/finish and packaging.

It expects to manufacture its Covid-19 vaccine along with other products within its mRNA vaccine portfolio at the new facility.

Moderna is yet to finalize the country and site for the mRNA facility, for which it will shortly begin a process.

US biotech company Moderna to build $500m mRNA facility in Africa

Stephane Bancel — Moderna CEO said: “After a decade of pioneering the development of our mRNA platform, we have been humbled to play a critical role in combatting the COVID-19 pandemic globally with our mRNA vaccine. We view Moderna’s work as only just beginning.

“On behalf of our growing team, partners and shareholders, we are determined to extend Moderna’s societal impact through the investment in a state-of-the-art mRNA manufacturing facility in Africa.

“While we are still working to increase capacity in our current network to deliver vaccines for the ongoing pandemic in 2022, we believe it is important to invest in the future.”

Currently, Moderna’s pipeline has 20 vaccine candidates in its prophylactic vaccines modality. These include vaccines against respiratory viruses, vaccines against latent viruses and vaccines against threats to public health around the world.