Moderna opens UK mRNA manufacturing plant with 100 million-dose capacity

Moderna, a developer of mRNA vaccines and therapeutics headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, announced it has opened its Moderna Innovation and Technology Centre (MITC) at the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire, U.K. The facility will manufacture British-made mRNA respiratory vaccines to support seasonal programs for the U.K.’s National Health Service, the company said.

The Harwell site has capacity to produce about 100 million mRNA vaccine doses per year and can be scaled to roughly 250 million doses in the event of a pandemic, according to the announcement. The facility also reportedly includes clinical R&D laboratories that will analyze samples from Moderna’s global clinical trials.

Moderna said the MITC is part of its global network of manufacturing hubs — which the company described as a way to improve geographic coverage and shorten response times for seasonal and emergency vaccine supply. Earlier this year, Moderna announced it received regulatory clearance from the U.K. Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to begin commercial production at Harwell. 

“The opening of the Moderna Innovation and Technology Centre marks the first facility in the U.K. to manufacture an onshore supply of mRNA vaccines,” Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said in a statement. “Our strategic partnership with the UK has already delivered more than 20 clinical trials across 110 sites nationwide, making Moderna the largest commercial sponsor of trials in the country. Together, we successfully delivered this vision from concept to operational readiness in under two years.”

In July, Moderna completed an R&D and manufacturing facility at Shonan Health Innovation Park in Fujisawa, Japan, but said it has paused a previously planned domestic mRNA drug-substance manufacturing project in the region because of shifting global market conditions.