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 Stephane 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.
About Moderna’s Strategic Pillars
Moderna’s has four strategic pillars guiding the Company’s focus and impact for 2022 and beyond. Our strategic pillars are:
– Developing a pan-respiratory annual booster vaccine and continuously customizing it. A pan-respiratory annual single booster vaccine covering multiple viruses, such as COVID-19, Flu, and Respiratory Syncytial Virus, could create value for the healthcare system through compliance, convenience to the customer (one vs. three injections), and reduction in vaccine administration cost
– Developing first-in-class vaccines against latent viruses for which there are no approved vaccines today. Latent viruses infect the body, lay dormant, and do not replicate but possess the capacity to activate, causing disease. In addition, new emerging evidence highlights that latent viral infections may have yet unknown negative effects. Moderna has clinical candidates in development for several latent viruses, including Epstein-Barr Virus (Phase 1), human immunodeficiency virus (Phase 1), and Cytomegalovirus (Phase 3)
– Developing therapeutics based on mRNA-encoded proteins across oncology, cardiovascular, auto-immune disorders, and rare genetic diseases
– Developing therapeutics based on mRNA-encoded gene-editing enzymes
About Moderna
In 10 years since its inception, Moderna has transformed from a research-stage company advancing programs in the field of messenger RNA (mRNA), to an enterprise with a diverse clinical portfolio of vaccines and therapeutics across seven modalities, a broad intellectual property portfolio in areas including mRNA and lipid nanoparticle formulation, and an integrated manufacturing plant that allows for both clinical and commercial production at scale and at unprecedented speed. Moderna maintains alliances with a broad range of domestic and overseas government and commercial collaborators, which has allowed for the pursuit of both groundbreaking science and rapid scaling of manufacturing. Most recently, Moderna’s capabilities have come together to allow the approval of one of the earliest and most effective vaccines against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Moderna’s mRNA platform builds on continuous advances in basic and applied mRNA science, delivery technology and manufacturing, and has allowed the development of therapeutics and vaccines for infectious diseases, immuno-oncology, rare diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and auto-immune diseases. Moderna has been named a top biopharmaceutical employer by Science for the past seven years. To learn more, visit www.modernatx.com.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended, including regarding: the Company’s plans to expand its commercial network across Asia with the addition of four new subsidiaries in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan. The forward-looking statements in this press release are neither promises nor guarantees, and you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements because they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond Moderna’s control and which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties, and other factors include those other risks and uncertainties described under the heading “Risk Factors” in Moderna’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and in subsequent filings made by Moderna with the SEC, which are available on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Except as required by law, Moderna disclaims any intention or responsibility for updating or revising any forward-looking statements contained in this press release in the event of new information, future developments or otherwise. These forward-looking statements are based on Moderna’s current expectations and speak only as of the date hereof.
Moderna Contacts
Media:
Luke Mircea Willats
Director, Corporate Communications
luke.mirceawillats@modernatx.com
Investors:
Lavina Talukdar
Senior Vice President & Head of Investor Relations
617-209-5834
Lavina.Talukdar@modernatx.com