Moderna, Kenyan Government Sign Vaccine MoU

Moderna has announced that with the help of the US government, it has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the government of the Republic of Kenya to make Kenya a location for the biotech firm’s mRNA manufacturing facility.

Moderna is building this state-of-the-art mRNA facility in Africa with the goal of producing as many as 500 million doses of vaccines per year. The company envisions investing up to $500 million in this new facility that will focus on drug substance manufacturing for the continent of Africa, and could also be expanded to include fill-finish and packaging capabilities at the site. Further, subject to demand, Moderna is currently working on plans to allow it to fill doses of its COVID-19 vaccine in Africa, as early as 2023.

"Partnerships are key to our goal of deploying vaccines whenever and wherever they are needed," says Noubar Afeyan, Moderna's co-founder and chairman. "We would like to thank the government of the Republic of Kenya for their support in bringing our mRNA manufacturing facility to Kenya, and thank the US government for assisting us in this process. We take seriously our critical role in combatting the COVID-19 pandemic and are determined to expand our global impact with our first manufacturing facility on the continent of Africa."