Moderna Pauses Plans On mRNA Vaccine Manufacturing Facility

Moderna has “paused its efforts ” to build an mRNA vaccine manufacturing facility in Kenya while it determines future demand for mRNA vaccines on the African continent. “The demand in Africa for COVID-19 vaccines has declined since the pandemic and is inadequate to support the viability of the factory planned in Kenya. Moderna has not received any vaccine orders for Africa since 2022 and has faced the cancellation of previous orders, resulting in more than$ 1 billion in losses and write-downs, ” the COVID-19 jab manufacturer announced last week. “Despite these challenges, Moderna is committed to ensuring equitable access and meeting emerging demands from African nations for its COVID-19 vaccine through its global manufacturing network, ” it added. Moderna halts vaccine plant in Africa amid dwindling orders – The Boston Globe https ://t. co/38FqxHD7o7— Kelly DNPFunctional/Integrative Med ( @kacdnp91 ) April 16, 2024Fierce Pharma reports :The Africa CDC responded to Moderna’s plans to step back from building a mRNA vaccine manufacturing facility in Kenya, saying the move by the Spikevax maker only “perpetuates ” the inadequate response to the COVID-19 pandemic on the continent. Last week, Moderna announced it was was reevaluating its decision to build a$ 500 million plant because it has n’t received any vaccine orders from the continent since 2022. The drugmaker grabbed international headlines in 2021 when it said it was looking to build a manufacturing site on the continent. Spikevax earned Moderna$ 17. 7 billion in sales in 2021 and$ 18. 4 billion in 2022. However, as the pandemic began to wane and vaccine demand subsided in 2023, the company reported$ 6. 7 billion in sales last year. WATCH:Moderna halts plans to build vaccine factory in Kenya following a decline in COVID-19 jab demand. The manufacturing company has never received any vaccine orders for Africa since 2022.
The U. S pharmaceutical and biotech company said the move is in line with its strategy to resize… pic. twitter. com/xGKAesNf66— Camus ( @newstart_2024 ) April 13, 2024Africa CDC stated :With the view to mobilise funds and find a responsive solution, African Union established the AU Covid-19 response fund and launched the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust ( AVAT ) with the African Export and Import Bank ( Afrexim Bank ). AVAT acquired 400 million vaccines from manufacturers another than Moderna, merely because Moderna vaccines were not made available, despite attempts to buy. In fact, less than 5 % of the covid-19 vaccines administered in Africa, were from Moderna. Despite these Egyptian efforts, Covid-19 vaccines were also delivered late to Africa, long after vaccines were made available to the developed world. Through its consortium for Covid-19 Vaccine Clinical Trials ( CONCVACT) Africa CDC also played a coordination role in facilitating the start and successful completion of clinical trials during the pandemic, strengthening enablers of high-quality vaccines clinical trials on the continent, and in accelerating post-trial vaccines regulatory approval. So, to blame Africa and Africa CDC for lack of demand for covid-19 vaccines and thus the reason to put on hold plans to manufacture vaccines in Africa, only serves to perpetuate the inequity that characterized the response to the Covid–19 pandemic. While different vaccine manufacturers are progressing with their plans and construction in Africa, Moderna is abandoning a commitment to build highly needed and relevant vaccine manufacturing capabilities in Africa, in truth, demonstrating that Moderna’s commitment is in fact never to vaccine equity and access to vaccines, through building manufacturing in Africa. Moderna halts vaccine plant in Africa amid dwindling orders https ://t. co/VuanXYIWnV pic. twitter. com/efF3xMbUCV— Wonderland ( @socialHATchat ) April 17, 2024“Moderna appreciates the strong support received from the governments of the United States and Kenya on this journey. We look forward to a continuing dialogue about future options to support the Kenyan healthcare ecosystem, including as we advance other mRNA vaccines and therapeutics of importance to the African continent through our pipeline, ” Moderna stated. [[{“value”:”

Moderna has “paused” its efforts to build a mRNA manufacturing facility in Kenya, while it determines the future demand for mRNA vaccinations on the African continent. “The demand for COVID-19 in Africa has declined since pandemic, and is not sufficient to support the viability” of the factory planned in Kenya. Moderna hasn’t received any orders for vaccines in Africa since 2022, and previous orders have been cancelled, resulting in over $1 billion in losses and writedowns,” COVID-19 jab maker announced last week. Moderna said that despite these challenges, it is committed to meeting the emerging demand from African nations for COVID-19 through its global manufacturing networks. Moderna halts vaccine plant in Africa amid dwindling orders – The Boston Globe https://t.co/38FqxHD7o7 — Kelly DNPFunctional/Integrative Med (@kacdnp91) April 16, 2024 Fierce Pharma reports: The Africa CDC responded to Moderna’s plans to step back from building a mRNA vaccine manufacturing facility in Kenya, saying the move by the Spikevax maker only “perpetuates” the inadequate response to the COVID-19 pandemic on the continent. Moderna announced last week that it was reevaluating the decision to build a $500-million plant in Africa because it hadn’t received any orders for vaccines from the continent since 2020. In 2021, the drugmaker made headlines around the world when it announced that it was looking to establish a manufacturing facility on the continent. Moderna earned $17,7 billion in 2021 from Spikevax and $18,4 billion in 2022. As the pandemic began waning and vaccine demand decreased in 2023, Moderna reported $6.7 billion sales in the previous year. Moderna has halted plans to build a vaccine factory in Kenya due to a drop in demand for COVID-19 vaccines. The manufacturing company hasn’t received any vaccine orders from Africa since 2022.The U.S pharmaceutical and biotech company said the move is in line with its strategy to resize… pic.twitter.com/xGKAesNf66 — Camus (@newstart_2024) April 13, 2024 Africa CDC stated: With the view to mobilise funds and find a responsive solution, African Union established the AU Covid-19 response fund and launched the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT) with the African Export and Import Bank (Afrexim Bank). AVAT purchased 400 million vaccines, from manufacturers other than Moderna. This was because Moderna vaccines, despite repeated attempts to purchase them, were not available. Moderna was responsible for less than 5% (or fewer) of the covid-19 vaccinations administered in Africa. Despite the African efforts, Covid-19 was still delivered late in Africa, many years after vaccines became available to developed countries. Africa CDC, through its consortium for Covid-19 Vaccine Clinical Trials, (CONCVACT), also played a role in facilitating and completing clinical trials during the pandemic. It also strengthened enablers of high quality vaccines clinical trial on the continent and accelerated post-trial regulatory approval of vaccines. To blame Africa and Africa CDC, and to use this as a reason to put plans to manufacture vaccines on hold in Africa, is to perpetuate the inequality that characterized the response of the Covid-19 pandemic. Moderna abandons a commitment to build highly relevant and needed vaccine manufacturing capabilities in Africa while other vaccine manufacturers progress with their plans and building in Africa. In truth, Moderna’s commitment in fact is not to vaccine equity or access to vaccines by building manufacturing in Africa. Moderna halts vaccine plant in Africa amid dwindling orders https://t.co/VuanXYIWnV pic.twitter.com/efF3xMbUCV — Wonderland (@socialHATchat) April 17, 2024 “Moderna appreciates the strong support received from the governments of the United States and Kenya on this journey. Moderna said that it looks forward to a continued dialogue about future options for supporting the Kenyan healthcare system, including as we progress other mRNA therapeutics and vaccines of importance to Africa through our pipeline.

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