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Moderna pauses Kenya plant plans as COVID vaccine demand wanes
By Reuters
April 12, 20246:48 AM GMT+3Updated 22 min ago
Vials labelled "VACCINE Coronavirus COVID-19" and a syringe are seen in front of a displayed Moderna logo in this illustration taken December 11, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab
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The move is in line with Moderna's strategy of resizing its manufacturing network to cut costs, even as it aims to spend around $4.5 billion this year in research and development of several new vaccines, including for cancer and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
Many of the messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines that Moderna is developing, like for HIV and malaria, are at an early stage.
"Given this, and in alignment with our strategic planning, Moderna believes it is prudent to pause its efforts to build an mRNA manufacturing facility in Kenya," the company said.
Moderna's strategy is a setback to efforts in Africa to cut reliance on vaccine and drug imports from outside the continent.
"To respond effectively to infectious disease outbreaks or better yet prevent them in the first place, it is crucial that there is local vaccine manufacturing capacity and capability to support local needs," said Charlie Weller, head of prevention in the infectious disease team at Wellcome.
Wellcome is a health research funding and advocacy foundation.
The company had said in 2022 that it would invest about $500 million in the Kenya facility and supply as many as 500 million doses of its mRNA vaccines to Africa each year.
It also had plans to start filling doses of its COVID vaccine in the continent as early as 2023.
However, Moderna has not received any vaccine orders for Africa since 2022 amid waning demand globally, the company said.
The drugmaker said it had taken more than $1 billion in losses and write-downs related to the cancellation of previous orders from Africa.
Reporting by Leroy Leo in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Sriraj Kalluvila
What @pop in said then - "One of the biggest FDI wins of newly elected Kenyan president William Ruto, who also came into power in 2022, comes from Moderna. The US-based pharmaceutical company has finalised an agreement to invest up to $500m as it plans to locate its first African facility for the production of messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines in Kenya — one of the first of its kind in Africa"
