Moderna’s promised vaccine production facility to be built in Montreal area
Posted April 28, 2022 12:08 pm.
Last Updated April 28, 2022 12:09 pm.
American vaccine maker Moderna will announce Friday it intends to build its promised Canadian production facility in the Montreal area.
A source with knowledge of the announcement confirms the deal, which comes almost nine months after Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel signed an agreement with the Canadian government to bring such a factory to Canada.
The source asked not to be identified because they are not authorized to comment on the announcement publicly.
RELATED:
- Moderna seeks U.S. authorization for COVID shots for kids under 6
- Quebec says mRNA COVID-19 vaccines preferable to Medicago in most circumstances
Canada’s biomanufacturing industry declined substantially in recent years and when COVID-19 vaccines were needed, no facility in Canada was immediately able to make them.
It left Canada entirely reliant on imported vaccines and Innovation Minister Francois-Phillipe Champagne says Canada will never put itself in that position again.
Last year Ottawa budgeted $2.2 billion over seven years to try and reverse that decline.
It has previously committed $126 million to build a vaccine facility run by the National Research Council in Montreal, and $173 million to help Quebec’s Medicago develop a COVID-19 vaccine and expand production capacity.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 28, 2022.
