The UK government is working with the Boston-based Moderna to build the country’s first RNA vaccine production center in a £ 1 billion deal as it seeks to be a leader in response to pandemics.
The government is seeking to secure home-made supplies of mRNA technology, which has proven to be a crucial weapon in the fight against Covid-19, and offers the prospect of transforming treatment for other conditions such as cancer.
Once built, the center – which can be located anywhere from the Golden Triangle between London, Oxford and Cambridge in the south of England to a site in the north-east – will produce up to 250 million doses a year, including some for export. The 10-year deal, which will be finalized this summer, also includes joint research and development work.
Sajid Javid, health minister, said the government had attracted Moderna with a long-term agreement to supply vaccines, as well as a strong ecosystem of life sciences in the UK.
“It’s huge in scale and potential,” he told the Financial Times. “I think this shows that in the UK after Brexit, when it comes to domestic investment, and especially in this case, life sciences, the United Kingdom is the leader in Europe.
Javid has sought and secured a “personal mandate” from Boris Johnson, the UK’s prime minister, to negotiate the deal, he added. He visited Moderna earlier this year.
In 2020, the government relied heavily on the vaccine, developed by AstraZeneca in partnership with Oxford University, which never achieved the levels of efficacy of mRNA strikes.
Johnson said the investment with Moderna would “guarantee punches” and create jobs as Boston-based biotechnology develops vaccines for other respiratory diseases, including influenza and respiratory syncytial virus.
“We have all seen what vaccines can do, and today’s partnership brings us one step closer to finding cures for some of the most devastating diseases,” he said.
The agreement generally includes the establishment of local production of mRNA vaccines that can be quickly adapted to deal with outbreaks of new pathogens.
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The Covid-19 pandemic underscored the importance of home-grown vaccine supplies as governments, including the United States and India, restricted exports.
The United Kingdom has said it has invested £ 395 million in providing and increasing the country’s capacity to produce medicines since the pandemic began. But it has also sold part of its leading vaccine center.
Javid made it clear that the government views investment as a critical part of its strategy for life sciences after Brexit. Under the deal, Moderna will conduct much of its clinical trials in the UK.
Ministers consider the cradle-to-grave patient files generated by the taxpayer-funded NHS, which cares for Britons throughout their lives, as a significant incentive for companies to invest in the country.
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Stefan Bansel, CEO of Moderna, said people were worried after Brexit that the UK would suffer from less investment in science.
But he said Moderna was helping to address those concerns by introducing mRNA technology that could be used by other scientists to create something “super magic.”
“What has been very exciting for us is the incredible amount of scientific leadership that the United Kingdom has had for a long time. . . “This is not at all something that the United Kingdom has lost,” he said.
He added that with 46 programs for potential drugs or vaccines in its plan, Moderna could not conduct all of its clinical trials in the United States. “The scale that the United Kingdom has to offer in terms of clinical trial capabilities is quite unique,” he said.
Moderna will also build a facility to allow university researchers access to its mRNA platform.
Javid said one of the lessons of the pandemic is to make sure the country is more resilient. “There will be future pandemics,” he said. “None of us know exactly what, when and how.”
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