Pharmaceutical company, Moderna has revealed it has entered a new Memorandum of Understanding with the Kenyan government to establish an mRNA vaccine facility in the country.
The facility is expected to gulp $500m according to Moderna and it will focus on drug substance manufacturing for Africa and on the continent.
The company said the facility may be further expanded to fill/finish packaging capabilities at the site of the establishment.
“We’re announcing that with the assistance of the U.S. Government, we have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of the Republic of Kenya to establish Kenya as the location for the our mRNA manufacturing facility.
“We anticipate investing up to $500 million 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,” the company said on Twitter.
Moderna’s Chief Executive Officer, Stéphane Bancel said their plan is to transform mRNA vaccine innovation in Africa.
“With our mRNA global public health vaccine program, including our vaccine programs against HIV and Nipah and with this partnership with Republic of Kenya, the African Union and the U.S government, we believe 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.”
The Co-Founder and Chairman of the company, Noubar Afeyan said such partnerships are key to expanding their global impact and battling COVID-19 headlong.