Announcement reinforces Moderna’s commitment to Asia and vision as a global commercial enterprise
New subsidiaries to be established in Malaysia, Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong; providing local presence to support the delivery of mRNA vaccines and therapeutics
CAMBRIDGE, MA / ACCESSWIRE / February 15, 2022 / Moderna, Inc., (NASDAQ:MRNA), a biotechnology company pioneering messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics and vaccines, today announced plans to expand its commercial network across Asia with the addition of four new subsidiaries in Malaysia, Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong. This expansion comes as the Company continues to scale up the manufacturing and distribution of its COVID-19 vaccine and future mRNA vaccines and therapeutics.
The Asia-Pacific region represents an integral part of Moderna’s business, with established subsidiaries in Japan, South Korea, and Australia. In 2021, Moderna and the South Korean government announced a collaboration to explore local opportunities for research and manufacturing in South Korea. More recently, the Company announced an agreement in principle with the Australian Government to build a state-of-the-art mRNA vaccine manufacturing facility in Victoria, Australia.
“2021 was a year of impact for Moderna, and I am proud to see continued growth in 2022 as we expand our presence in Asia. After a decade of pioneering the development of our mRNA platform, we were ready to play a critical role in combating the COVID-19 pandemic globally,” said Stéphane Bancel, Chief Executive Officer of Moderna. “With the addition of four subsidiaries in Asia, we look forward to new opportunities to leverage our mRNA platform to help solve health challenges, including those with a high burden of disease in the Asia-Pacific region.”
Asia bears the highest burden of infectious diseases, and the burden of non-communicable diseases is increasing as the population ages. Moderna’s growing portfolio in prophylactic vaccines, cardiovascular diseases, oncology, and rare diseases presents an unparalleled opportunity to use mRNA technology to maximize the potential impact the Company can have on human health in the region.
Moderna’s broader pipeline currently includes 40 development programs, of which 25 are in clinical trials. The Company continues to update its COVID-19 strategy to address variants of concern such as Omicron and pioneer new vaccines and therapeutics for a range of diseases and conditions. Moderna is developing mRNA medicines to potentially prevent and treat diseases with significant unmet needs across infectious diseases, immuno-oncology, rare and ultra-rare diseases, and autoimmune diseases.
Moderna currently has a presence in twelve markets globally. Regulators have approved Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine in more than 70 markets, including Canada, Japan, the European Union, the UK, and Israel. In 2021, 807 million doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine were shipped globally, with approximately 25% of those doses shipped to low- and middle-income markets.
