Moderna investing up to $500 million to produce vaccines for African continent

US mRNA therapeutics and vaccines developer Moderna (Nasdaq: MRNA) today announced that, with the assistance of the US government, it has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the government of Kenya to establish Kenya as the location for the company's mRNA manufacturing facility.

Moderna is building this state-of-the-art mRNA facility in Africa with the goal of producing up to 500 million doses of vaccines each year. The company anticipates 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. In parallel, Moderna is also working on plans to allow it to fill doses of its COVID-19 vaccine in Africa as early as 2023, subject to demand.

"Battling the COVID-19 pandemic over the last two years has provided a reminder of the work that must be done to ensure global health equity. Moderna is committed to being a part of the solution and today, we announce another step in this journey - an investment in the Republic of Kenya to build a drug substance mRNA manufacturing facility capable of supplying up to 500 million doses for the African continent each year," said Stéphane Bancel, chief executive of Moderna.