Despite production of mRNA for the Covid-19 vaccine ending at the Lonza site in Visp, Moderna is maintaining its strategic partnership with the Valais company, assures the boss of the American group. This ten-year partnership was signed in 2020.
“We will discuss possible collaborations as our messenger RNA portfolio materialises,” declared Moderna’s CEO, Stéphane Bancel, in an interview with Le Temps.
He explains that Moderna is "right-sizing its industrial footprint and supply base to accelerate its gross margin expansion toward its long-term goal of 75-80%." Demand for the vaccine has fallen by 66%, he notes.
The company based in Cambridge, near Boston, in the United States state of Massachusetts plans to absorb demand for mRNA at its Norwood site over the next two years.
In 2025, Moderna plans to expand its capabilities at its new mRNA manufacturing facilities in the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. Only the manufacturing partnership with Rovi in Spain will be maintained. “At the beginning of this year, we opened a new centre of excellence in Madrid,” notes Stéphane Bancel.
This centre allows analytical tests to be carried out to certify batches of mRNA vaccines for markets outside the United States, he adds. “It makes Spain the largest production centre covering all stages of the Moderna vaccine production chain outside the United States.”