A global hub for biopharma manufacturing, Melbourne has been chosen as the home of Moderna’s first mRNA manufacturing facility outside of North America, following an in principle agreement with the Commonwealth and Victorian Governments.
The new facility will provide Australia with sovereign vaccine manufacturing capability and will be capable of producing up to 25 million vaccine doses per year from 2024, with the capacity to scale up to 100 million doses per year to combat future pandemics.
As well as mRNA COVID vaccines, the facility will be able to produce other therapeutics which can be used in the treatment of seasonal influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and other potential diseases.
Victoria is already Australia’s leader in pharmaceutical and biological manufacturing, responsible for nearly 60 per cent of Australia’s pharmaceutical exports – making it the state’s highest value advanced manufactured export.
The arrival of Moderna marks Victoria as the home of mRNA manufacturing in Australia and will complement a number of existing initiatives the Victorian Government is supporting to grow a local mRNA ecosystem.
The Victorian Government recently made available $25 million in grant funding to fast-track RNA based therapeutic research (via the mRNA Victoria Research Acceleration Program) and to support bold project ideas that will grow Victoria’s capabilities in RNA research, development and manufacturing (via the mRNA Victoria Activation Program).
Victorian scientists and manufacturers also recently created Australia’s first mRNA COVID-19 vaccine candidate – Australia’s first ever mRNA drug product – in just five months, enabling clinical trials to begin in the new year.
Read more about mRNA Victoria and its initiatives.
Learn more about Victoria’s research and development capabilities or contact our team to explore available investment options.
