Vaccine manufacturer Moderna Inc. has announced a Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of Kenya to establish a Ksh57 billion mRNA manufacturing facility.
The state-of-the-art mRNA facility is the first in Africa and will produce up to 500 million doses of vaccines each year. The Company anticipates investing up to $500 million (Ksh57 billion) in this new facility which will focus on drug substance manufacturing on the continent of Africa for the continent of Africa and could also be expanded to include fill/finish and packaging capabilities at the site. In parallel, Moderna is also working on plans to allow it to fill doses of its COVID-19 vaccine in Africa as early as 2023, subject to demand.
“Battling the COVID-19 pandemic over the last two years has provided a reminder of the work that must be done to ensure global health equity. Moderna is committed to being a part of the solution and today, we announce another step in this journey – an investment in the Republic of Kenya to build a drug substance mRNA manufacturing facility capable of supplying up to 500 million doses for the African continent each year,” said Stéphane Bancel, Chief Executive Officer of Moderna.
“With our mRNA global public health vaccine program, including our vaccine programs against HIV and Nipah, and with this partnership with the Republic of Kenya, the African Union and the U.S. Government, we believe that this step will become one of many on a journey to ensure sustainable access to transformative mRNA innovation on the African continent and positively impact public health.”
“We would like to thank the Government of the Republic of Kenya for their support in bringing our mRNA manufacturing facility to Kenya. We would also like to thank the U.S. Government for assisting us in this process,” said Noubar Afeyan, Co-founder and Chairman of Moderna.
“We are honored to have played such a critical role in combatting the COVID-19 pandemic with our vaccine and we are determined to expand our global impact with our first manufacturing facility on the continent of Africa”, he continued.
“We are pleased to partner with Moderna in the establishment of this mRNA manufacturing facility to help prepare the country and our sister states on the continent through the African Union to respond to future health crises and stave off the next pandemic,” said His Excellency Uhuru Kenyatta, President of the Republic of Kenya.
“This partnership is a testament to the capabilities of our community and our commitment to technological innovation. Moderna’s investment in Kenya will help advance equitable global vaccine access and is emblematic of the structural developments that will enable Africa to become an engine of sustainable global growth”, the President added.
“Kenya recognizes and appreciates the collaboration of Moderna in building our local manufacturing capacity. This will ensure as a country and region we can quickly respond to health demands requiring Vaccine commodities”, said Mutahi Kagwe, Cabinet Secretary for Health of the Republic of Kenya.
In its prophylactic vaccines modality, Moderna’s mRNA pipeline includes 28 vaccine programs including vaccines against respiratory viruses, vaccines against latent viruses and vaccines against threats to global public health.
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