Moderna to Select Site in Africa for $500 Million mRNA Facility

Moderna announced, in an Oct. 7th, 2021 press release, its intent to build a new $500 million mRNA facility in Africa. Upon completion, the expectation is that the facility will be capable of producing 500 million doses of vaccines each year at the 50 µg dose level.

The facility is expected to not only manufacture drug substance, but also have fill/finish and packaging capabilities at the new site. At this point in time, no site has been selected for the new facility.

“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,” said Stephane Bancel, CEO, Moderna, in a company press release. “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. We expect to manufacture our COVID-19 vaccine as well as additional products within our mRNA vaccine portfolio at this facility.”

To date, Moderna has produced over 500 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine. According to the press release, the company has 20 prophylactic vaccine candidates in its pipeline. These include vaccines for respiratory viruses, latent viruses, and for “threats to global public health.”

Source: Moderna