Moderna will build an RNA vaccine research and production facility in the UK

Moderna will build an RNA vaccine research and production facility in the UK

The contract, the financial terms of which have not been disclosed, is intended to provide patients with the British Public Health Service access to “the next generation of vaccines and treatments”, the health ministry indicated in a press release.

American biotechnology company Moderna will build a research and production center dedicated to messenger RNA vaccines in the United Kingdom, the British government announced on Wednesday that it wants to prepare “for future pandemics”.

The contract, the financial terms of which have not been disclosed, is intended to provide patients with the British Public Health Service access to “the next generation of vaccines and treatments”, the health ministry indicated in a press release.

It provides a center for research and development on RNA vaccines, a center for the production of vaccines, and for conducting a large portion of clinical trials on British soil.

First vaccines in 2025

The government underscores the “crucial” role of this technology in the fight against the pandemic, and its “potential to allow for success related to certain types of diseases such as cancer, influenza, dementia or heart disease”.

Manufacturing should begin this year for the first vaccines produced in 2025. “The center will be able to rapidly scale up its production in the event of a health emergency, strengthening the capacity of the United Kingdom to respond to future pandemics”, it specified.

“Our investment will secure vaccines against the most dangerous viruses, keeping us at the forefront of the fight against future threats,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in the statement.

One of the countries hardest-hit by the Covid-19 pandemic with nearly 180,000 deaths, the United Kingdom has purchased vaccines in recent years, including RNA technologies purchased from Pfizer and Moderna, while it has been mainly focused on the more classic AstraZeneca/ Manufactures Oxford Serum.

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