Moderna Signs MOU with Canadian Government for Vaccine Factory Construction

"Establishment of Vaccine Factory Within 2024... Discussions with Other Countries Also Underway"
Agreement to Supply Vaccines Exclusively to Canada in Case of Pandemic

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] U.S. pharmaceutical company Moderna announced that it will establish a COVID-19 vaccine factory in Canada. The company plans to discuss partnership options with other countries in the future to increase overseas local factories.

On the 10th (local time), Moderna announced through its website that it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Canadian government to cooperate on building a vaccine factory in Canada. The new vaccine factory to be built in Canada will be similar in scale to Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine production plant in Norwood, Massachusetts, USA, and is known to be established and operated directly by Moderna.

Stefan Bancel, CEO of Moderna, said in an interview with CNBC, "We expect to start building the factory within the next few months and open it by 2023 or 2024." He added, "The new factory will mainly supply vaccines domestically within Canada." He also stated, "This factory will produce not only COVID-19 vaccines but also flu vaccines and RSV vaccines currently being developed using mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid) technology."

The Canadian government reportedly agreed with Moderna that in emergencies such as a pandemic, the Canadian government will have the authority to order the factory to produce vaccines solely for domestic use. However, vaccine quantities not needed domestically in Canada can be exported by Moderna to other countries.

Moderna is also reportedly discussing similar cooperation plans with other governments. Once local factories are established, Moderna's vaccine production capacity is expected to increase significantly. Moderna has announced plans to produce 800 million to 1 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines this year and up to 3 billion doses next year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.