Moderna appoints Dr Craig Rayner as Director, Regional Centre for Respiratory Medicines and Tropical Disease
Monash University Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Adjunct Research Professor and Distinguished Alumnus, Dr Craig Rayner, has joined Moderna Australia as Director, Regional Centre for Respiratory Medicine and Tropical Disease.
The Regional Centre has been established as part of Moderna’s strategic partnership with the Australian Government, and aims to support Australia's mRNA research, development, and industry ecosystem.
It was recently announced that Moderna will build its first mRNA production facility in the Southern Hemisphere within the Monash Technology Precinct, located at Clayton in Melbourne’s south-east.
Construction of the new manufacturing facility has now commenced and is expected to open in 2024, subject to regulatory approvals, and will produce up to 100 million vaccine doses each year, including vaccines for COVID-19, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
Dr Rayner brings more than 20 years of experience in global clinical pharmacology and medicine development spanning clinical practice, academia, entrepreneurship and industry including executive R&D roles at Roche, CSL, d3 Medicine and Certara in Switzerland, UK, USA and Australia. His primary focus over his career has been in the global health and infectious diseases arena.
He is broadly published in clinical pharmacology and infectious diseases and holds undergraduate Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Science degrees from Monash University, a PharmD from the State University of New York at Buffalo, a senior executive MBA from Melbourne Business School, and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (Edinburgh).
Dr Rayner said Moderna’s facility will further strengthen Australia’s mRNA capabilities by bringing together all the elements of an mRNA innovation ecosystem that will deliver long-term health, employment and economic benefits for the wider community.
“I have long admired Moderna’s role in pioneering impactful mRNA science and see this as such an exciting new age in therapeutics and vaccine development. I am thrilled to join Moderna and be able to partner with globally renowned scientists and clinicians across Australia and beyond, to accelerate new mRNA medicines to patients and contribute to the growth of a vibrant mRNA R&D ecosystem,” said Dr Rayner.
Monash University is home to Monash RNA, Australia's largest network of RNA and mRNA researchers and brings together mRNA specialists from the fields of biotechnology, infectious disease, immunity and cancer, at the leading edge of a new era in novel mRNA therapeutics.
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