From the AFR:
Moderna’s Melbourne move predicted to spark medical R&D boomVictoria’s successful pitch to host
Australia’s first mRNA vaccine facility will spark major growth in the state’s medical manufacturing sector and grow the skilled local workforce, Moderna’s Australian boss says.
After landing a major deal with the federal and state governments to produce 100 million messenger RNA vaccine doses per year from 2024, the US pharma giant’s boss for Australia and New Zealand, Michael Azrak, said the country had joined an exclusive group of nations with sovereign capability in the field.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison meeting with managing director of Moderna for Australia and New Zealand, Michael Azrak, on Tuesday. Chris Hopkins
The in-principle deal will lead to a new respiratory manufacturing facility at a site yet to be chosen, which Mr Azrak said would be developed like
Moderna’s world-leading hub at Norwood in Massachusetts.The cost of the agreement is being kept secret due to commercial-in-confidence provisions.
“The technology that is being used is cutting edge, modern manufacturing so what we’ll certainly be looking for and what Australia has in Melbourne is that skilled workforce,” he said.
Moderna released positive phase 1 data on a flu vaccine this week and is also progressing a vaccine candidate for respiratory syncytial virus.
Mr Azrak said in a non-pandemic period, the new facility could produce combination influenza-COVID-19 vaccines for use in Australia.
“Today it is COVID-19, and that’s what has everyone’s attention and focus, and the facility will have pandemic preparedness built in. But in a non-pandemic setting, Australia will have access to Moderna’s mRNA vaccine development engine.”
He welcomed other companies considering Australia, praising education and research and development savvy already in place.
“We have the excellent high-skilled workforce, the science, the R&D and the ingenuity and I really hope we can be a catalyst to attract and encourage others in the biopharmaceutical space in Australia. That would be another added bonus to this announcement.”
Announcing the deal, Mr Morrison said Moderna would help make Australia a leader in mRNA development.
“We have the strong foundation to continue to build not just a great research and collaboration infrastructure, but a powerhouse of medical manufacturing, which plays exactly into our economic goals of securing the economic recovery,” he said.
The Australian Academy of Science welcomed the announcement, saying it positioned the country well to respond to future pandemics, as well as respond to “uniquely Australian problems”.
So-called messenger RNA vaccines work by prompting cells to make proteins that induce an immune response, causing the body to produce antibodies.
Australian National University RNA biology group leader Thomas Preiss said it was important to provide on-shore population-scale production capacity of vaccines to deal with future infectious disease calamities.
“Of even greater importance long-term, this will give Australia a real shot at becoming an international player in a fast-growing pharmaceutical manufacturing market based on disruptive technology that has therapeutic applications well beyond vaccines,” Professor Preiss said.
“It is also encouraging to see that governments will flank this development with additional investment to promote a broader, national RNA research and development ecosystem, drawing on strong science in the Australian universities and medical research institutes as well as the local biotech industry.”
Victoria’s Innovation and Medical Research Minister Jaala Pulford said the state’s world-leading scientific community would be stronger because of the deal.
“There are only two organisations on the planet that can currently perform end-to-end mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, and having Moderna pitching tent here is so important to us.
“We’re excited about that sovereign capability, but we’re also very, very excited about the research partnerships that will flow from this into things like diseases that affect parts of our region, into the new and emerging therapeutics for things like cancers and other rare diseases.”
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