Moderna to set up new mRNA manufacturing facility in Kenya

Moderna has finalised an agreement with the government of the Republic of Kenya to establish an mRNA manufacturing facility in the country.

The company will construct the new advanced mRNA facility, which is claimed to be Moderna’s first mRNA manufacturing facility in Africa and is expected to have the capacity to produce up to 500 million vaccine doses annually.

The new facility is expected to enable the manufacturing of drug products for Kenya and Africa, and will be able to quickly scale up its production and respond to public health emergencies on the continent and worldwide.

Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said: “The finalisation of our agreement with the government of the Republic of Kenya is a key pillar of our global public health strategy, where we hope to bring mRNA innovation to the people of Africa in areas of high unmet need, such as acute respiratory infections, as well as persistent infectious diseases like HIV and outbreak threats such as Zika and Ebola.

“This also demonstrates our confidence in the investment climate in Kenya and the importance of utilising mRNA technology to build resilience in healthcare security in Africa.”

The company is also committed to establishing mRNA manufacturing facilities in Australia, Canada, the US and the UK.

Kenya’s investments, trade, and industry cabinet secretary Moses Kuria said: “This investment creates the momentum to meet the $10bn annual target under the government’s manufacturing ’20 by 30′ vision, where we plan to grow the contribution of manufacturing to GDP to 20% by the year 2030 from the current 7%.”

Recently, Moderna entered into a strategic collaboration with Generation Bio for non-viral genetic medicines development.

Cell & Gene Therapy coverage on Pharmaceutical Technology is supported by Cytiva.

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