Table of Contents
U.S. pharmaceutical and biotechnology giant Moderna plans to invest $500 million to build a factory in Africa. The move is aimed at producing about 500 million doses of mRNA vaccines annually on the continent, including Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine, Reuters reported.
The announcement comes on the heels of mounting pressures on the international pharmaceutical industry to set up vaccine plants in Africa to help it secure supplies of COVID-19 vaccines, as only 4.5 percent of the continent has been fully vaccinated.
The continent is mainly under-vaccinated, with wealthy nations being accused of hoarding vaccines. The situation prompted Sudanese-British billionaire philanthropist Mohammed “Mo” Ibrahim to criticize wealthy countries for stashing the vaccines several months ago.
The drugmaker wants to help address the vaccine shortage on the continent.
Founded in 2010, Moderna focuses on vaccine technologies based on mRNA. French billionaire businessman Stephane Bancel has served as its CEO since 2013.
Bancel is also a nine-percent owner of the company. In April 2020, his stake was worth more than $1 billion following a rise in Moderna’s share price after news surfaced of imminent phase-two human trials of its COVID-19 vaccine. It is Moderna’s only commercial product.
“We expect to manufacture our COVID-19 vaccine as well as additional products within our mRNA vaccine portfolio at this facility,” Bancel said in a statement.
The company has not decided on the location of the site. However, it said that it will soon begin to determine the country and location. The proposed site will include drug substance manufacturing, as well as bottling and packaging capabilities.
