Moderna has started construction of its new manufacturing facility at Monash University’s Clayton campus in Melbourne’s south east.
The new facility is expected to further secure access to mRNA vaccines and enhance medical research and development in Australia.
Monash was selected as the site for the new facility in March this year as part of a 10-year strategic partnership between Moderna and the Federal and Victorian governments.
Monash University President and Vice-Chancellor Professor Margaret Gardner AC said Moderna’s facility will further strengthen the Precinct, which is already established as one of Australia’s strongest ecosystems of globally connected innovators and enterprises across technology, manufacturing, health, sustainable development and education.
“The Monash Technology Precinct brings together some of Australia’s most significant and unique research and technology centres, platforms and facilities to attract innovative and world-leading research and investment in future-focused disciplines,” said Professor Gardner.
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It will be Moderna’s first manufacturing site to be built in the Southern Hemisphere and the first to be built on a university campus. The facility is expected to open in 2024, subject to regulatory approvals, and will produce up to 100 million vaccine doses each year, including vaccines for COVID-19, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
Located within the Monash Technology Precinct, at the corner of Blackburn and Wellington roads, the facility will join a host of research and technology facilities already established in the precinct, including CSIRO, Australian Synchrotron, Victorian Heart Hospital, and Melbourne Centre for Nanofabrication.
The facility will be complemented by the Monash Centre for Advanced mRNA Medicine Manufacturing and Workforce training, which Monash is establishing in partnership with the Victorian Government.
“Together, Moderna’s production facility and the new Centre combine two critical elements of an mRNA innovation ecosystem that will deliver long-term health and economic benefits for the community, and strengthen Monash’s position at the forefront of mRNA/RNA therapeutic,” Professor Gardner said.
In 2020, the Federal Government provided just over $1.5 million through its Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) to Monash and the Doherty Institute to begin the clinical trial process.
In June 2021, the Victorian Government granted Monash University $5 million through mRNA Victoria to manufacture the vaccine.