Celebrating the official launch of the Moderna Technology Centre in the Monash Technology Precinct
L-R: Phoebe Dunn, CEO mRNA Victoria; Dr Amanda Caples, Lead Scientist; Patricia Gauthier, Moderna Head of Global Health Security Partnerships; Dr Megan Clark AC, Chancellor; Professor Sharon Pickering, Vice-Chancellor and President, Monash University; the Hon Jacinta Allan, Premier of Victoria; Her Excellency Professor the Honourable Margaret Gardner AC, Governor of Victoria; Michael Azrak, General Manager of Moderna Australia and New Zealand; Emma Harrington, VP Site Head Australia, Moderna; The Hon Danny Pearson, Acting Treasurer, Minister for Economic Growth; Shannon Klinger, Moderna Executive Committee Member; Dr Carina Garland MP, Member for Chisholm; the Hon Steve Dimopoulos, Member for Oakleigh, Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events, Minister for Environment, Minister for Outdoor Recreation; and Senator Jess Walsh, Senator for Victoria.
Moderna has officially launched its new vaccine manufacturing facility at Monash University’s Clayton campus in southeast Melbourne, marking a significant achievement in advancing mRNA vaccine accessibility and promoting medical research and development in Australia.
The Monash Technology Precinct was selected as the site of the Moderna Technology Centre in March 2022 as part of a 10-year strategic partnership between Moderna and the Federal and Victorian governments. It joins a host of world-leading research and technology facilities already established in the precinct, including CSIRO, Australian Synchrotron, Victorian Heart Hospital, and Melbourne Centre for Nanofabrication.
The facility is Moderna’s first manufacturing site in the Southern Hemisphere and the first to be built on a university campus. It will have capacity to produce up to 100 million vaccine doses each year during a pandemic, and in endemic periods produce vaccines for COVID-19, influenza, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) (subject to regulatory approvals), improving access for Australians.
As part of their partnership, Monash and Moderna have also launched the Monash-Moderna Quantitative Pharmacology Accelerator, focusing on accelerating the development of mRNA medicines through mathematical computer models. As a key partner in Moderna's mRNA Platform Incubator Network, the University enhances the interconnectivity of Australian organisations to advance mRNA medicine research and development.
Monash has also collaborated with the Victorian Government to establish the Monash Centre for Advanced mRNA Medicines Manufacturing and Workforce Training, which educates and trains specialists in mRNA technology and manufacturing.
“Monash University is a leader in the development of mRNA and RNA therapeutics and is at the heart of the thriving mRNA innovation ecosystem established around our Clayton campus that now includes Moderna’s new vaccine manufacturing facility,” said Professor Sharon Pickering, Vice-Chancellor and President of Monash University.
“The opening of the Moderna Technology Centre will accelerate Monash’s ground-breaking work toward the rapid development of life-saving vaccines and therapeutic treatments for infectious diseases and cancers,” Professor Pickering said.
Monash is at the cutting edge of mRNA/RNA therapeutics development, including the development and manufacture of Australia’s first mRNA vaccine candidate, which has completed a Phase 1 clinical trial as a fourth-dose booster vaccine against COVID-19.
Monash continues to strengthen Australia’s mRNA/RNA capabilities through a number of other notable initiatives including the Victorian mRNA Innovation Hub; mRNA Core; Australia’s first National Centre for Biopharmaceutical Optimisation of mRNA Therapeutics (CORTx) and the establishment of an RNA Mass Spectrometry Platform to provide a suite of essential analytical services for the Australian RNA therapeutics sector.