Moderna, Inc.‘s (NASDAQ: MRNA) UK chief Darius Hughes defended Britain's drug pricing policies after the country was branded the "worst in Europe."
Hughes’ comments came as the company opened a 150 million pounds ($200.16 million) vaccine facility in Oxfordshire.
On Wednesday, Moderna announced that the Moderna Innovation and Technology Centre (MITC) at the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire, U.K., has officially opened.
Also Read: United Kingdom The Worst European Country For Drug Prices: Eli Lilly CEO
The MITC will now produce British-made mRNA respiratory vaccines for the UK public to support the National Health Service (NHS) seasonal vaccination programs. Beyond respiratory diseases, the MITC will also support research into the potential of mRNA science in areas such as cancer, rare diseases and immune disorders.
“The opening of the Moderna Innovation and Technology Centre marks the first facility in the UK to manufacture an onshore supply of mRNA vaccines,” said Stéphane Bancel, CEO of Moderna. “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.”
The site can produce up to 100 million mRNA vaccine doses per year. It also has the capacity to increase to 250 million in the event of a pandemic.
The Clinical R&D facility at the MITC also includes laboratories that will analyze samples from Moderna’s clinical trials globally.
Moderna would continue to invest in the U.K. as part of its £ 1 billion, decade-long government partnership.
"We're here to invest," said Hughes. "We're here on a 10-year strategic partnership, and we will be investing heavily in R&D across that period."
Hughes told the Guardian that it was "a little harsh", adding: "I don't want to dull down some of the challenges that the rest of the industry have got, but we are in a different place. We're here for pandemic preparedness, for the vaccine programmes, and to help protect British patients over the winter."
U.K. Investment Halt
Last week, Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MRK) announced it would cancel its planned $1.36 billion (1 billion Sterling pounds) London research center.
The company cited Britain’s slow progress on life sciences investment and successive governments’ undervaluation of innovative medicines.
AstraZeneca Plc (NASDAQ: AZN) also paused a planned investment of 200 million pounds ($271.26 million) in its Cambridge research site.
Price Action: MRNA stock is down 3.25% at $25.04 at the last check on Thursday.
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