Moderna Chooses Kenya For $500M mRNA Manufacturing Factory

Moderna chose Kenya as its location for a $500 million African mRNA vaccine manufacturing effort. The pharmaceutical company says it signed a letter of understanding with Kenyan officials to develop a cutting-edge mRNA plant, that was first announced in October 2021. The site’s goal is to produce 500 million vaccination doses per year. The plant, according to the corporation, will benefit entire Africa and might be expanded in the future to add fill-finish and packaging capabilities.

Moderna further stated that, depending on the market for the vaccinations, it plans to have the plant built and operating by 2023 and fill the doses of COVID-19 vaccinations in Africa.

The prospective manufacturing plant’s exact location and floor space in Kenya have not been revealed. Moderna’s chief executive, Stéphane Bancel, said in a statement that they assume that this move will be one of many on a trip to implement sustainable direct exposure to paradigm shifting mRNA innovation on African continent and positively influence public health. With their mRNA global public health vaccine programme, including programmes against HIV and Nipah, and with this collaboration of Republic of Kenya, the US government, and the African Union,  the grass indeed looks greener on the other side.

Bancel earlier stated that the facility would be doubtful to have more of an influence on the outbreak because it would take two to four years to finish it off. Although COVID-19 has started to fade in more developed nations where vaccines are more commonly accessible, Moderna and other pharmaceutical companies are planning for future viral outbreaks and creating medicines for additional diseases. Moderna is developing 20 vaccine candidates in its clinical and preclinical pipeline for addressing respiratory viruses, latent viruses, and global health risks like the Zika virus.