2023-03-30 09:00:30 ET
Moderna ( NASDAQ: MRNA ) signed an agreement with the government of the Republic of Kenya to set up an mRNA manufacturing facility in the African nation.
This will be Moderna's first mRNA manufacturing facility in Africa.
The facility, which will be built in partnership with Kenya's government, will be able to produce up to 500M doses of vaccines each year.
The company expects the site to help drug substance and drug product manufacturing for Kenya and Africa and will have capacity to rapidly scale and respond to health emergencies.
"The finalization 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," said Moderna's CEO Stéphane Bancel.
Moderna has commitments to set up mRNA manufacturing sites in Kenya, the U.S., Canada, Australia, and U.K.
In June 2022, Moderna's mRNA COVID vaccine maker competitor, BioNTech ( BNTX ) already began construction of its first African mRNA vaccine manufacturing facility in Kigali, Rwanda.
MRNA +0.47% to $149.50 premarket March 30
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Moderna to set up mRNA manufacturing site in Kenya