Moderna vaccine deal to produce 100 million doses in Melbourne reached by Federal and Victorian governments

Australia is set to become the largest producer of mRNA vac­cines outside US and Europe under a $2bn-plus deal with Moderna.

A dose of Moderna Covid-19 booster vaccine. A partnership ­between the federal government, the Victorian government and Moderna will be announced on Tuesday. Picture: AFP

Australia is poised to become the largest producer of mRNA vac­cines outside the US and Europe under a $2bn-plus deal with global pharmaceutical giant Moderna to build a plant in Melbourne capable of producing 100 million respiratory vaccines a year, including future Covid-19 booster doses.

A three-way partnership ­between the federal government, the Victorian government and Moderna, to be announced on Tuesday, will position Australia as the region’s main respiratory vaccine producer for future potential pandemics and seasonal flu.

The 10-year strategic and commercial alliance will create a sovereign manufacturing hub that will challenge China’s soft-power push into the region, with a guarantee that a proportion of vac­cines will be donated to Australia’s Asian and Pacific neighbours.

Scott Morrison hailed the in-principle agreement as a ‘strategic partnership’ that will allow for 100 million mRNA vaccines to be produced during a pandemic. Picture: Martin Ollman

While the facility will be built to manufacture seasonal mRNA flu vaccines still in development, it will also be equipped to locally produce Covid-19 vaccines if and when needed, with medical ­experts claiming the world could still be dealing with the virus for another decade.

The $2bn life-saving ­announcement will come amid rising infection numbers in NSW and stubborn levels of Covid-19 in Victoria.

In NSW, end-of-year parties and the emergence of the highly infectious Omicron variant are being blamed for a surge in daily infections, with analysts predicting case numbers will double to 1000 a day before Christmas.

Victoria’s case numbers have fallen from a peak of 2297 on Oct­ober 14 to remain steady at an average of about 1100 since early November, creeping up slightly in recent days to 1290 on Monday.

The new facility will also use mRNA technology for treatment of cancer and rare diseases.

Australia last week was the first country to approve Moderna mRNA vaccines for Covid-19 booster shots.

Senior government sources said the deal met three key ­national interest pillars, including an insurance policy for future pandemics, a sovereign manufacturing capability and a national security imperative.

Scott Morrison hailed the in-principle agreement as a “strategic partnership” that would allow for 100 million mRNA vaccines to be produced during a pandemic, with Australia having priority access to both pandemic and non-pandemic respiratory mRNA vaccines.

“This investment will continue to secure Australia’s future economic prosperity while protecting lives by providing access to world-leading mRNA vaccines made on Australian soil,” the Prime Minister said.

“The new mRNA manufac­turing facility in Victoria will produce respiratory vaccines for potential future pandemics and seasonal health issues such as the common flu, protecting lives and livelihoods.

“Medical manufacturing is at the heart of our Modern Manufacturing Initiative, creating jobs and securing Australia’s economic recovery … unlike Labor, we’ve got more than a million Australians back in work.”

Australia is already the largest manufacturer of vaccines in the southern hemisphere through the CSL facilities also based in Melbourne and regarded as the ­nation’s leader in the field of medical research.

The new facility will establish Australia as the only mRNA ­vaccine technology manufacturer currently outside of the US and Europe.

Industry sources confirmed the deal was worth “several billion dollars”, although the exact price tag was deemed commercial in confidence.

The federal government funding component would come from a specific budget allocation signed off by Cabinet’s Expenditure Review Committee and National Security Committee.

General manager Moderna Australia and New Zealand Michael Azrak said: “Moderna is proud to be at the forefront of mRNA vaccine development and to be playing a role in the global response to the pandemic.

“We look forward to finalising agreements and starting work to develop onshore respiratory mRNA vaccine manufacturing capability here in Australia,” he said.

The Victorian government said the facility would be built to produce 25 million doses a year but it would have the capacity to scale up to produce 100 million doses a year during a pandemic.

The Acting Victorian Premier, James Merlino, said mRNA ­technology was a “new frontier for vaccine development” and a “new weapon in the fight against a range of diseases”.

“This is a huge announcement not just for Victoria but the whole country – being able to manufacture mRNA vaccines and treatments locally will lock in vaccine security both on our shores and across our region.”

Minister for Health and Aged Care Greg Hunt said the facility would ensure Australians were given priority access to the most advanced vaccine technology.

“This is another key pillar in Australia’s long-term medical manufacturing future, and we are looking forward to finalising the agreements with Moderna as soon as possible,” Mr Hunt said.

“Ensuring Moderna has a manufacturing presence here will deliver Australia priority access to products manufactured here in Australia, by Australians, for Australians, using the most cutting-edge vaccination science avail­able in the world today.”

Both the Victorian and NSW governments have previously stumped up promised funds for mRNA research, amid the federal government’s troubled vaccine rollout prior to the Delta wave of the pandemic. The nation’s vaccination rate is now among the highest in the world.