A pharmacist holds up a vial of the bivalent Moderna COVID-19 vaccine in a file image. (Ringo Chiu/AFP via Getty Images)
Moderna has produced the first Canadian-made doses of its mRNA vaccines in its new facility in Laval, Que., the company’s CEO says.
“We want to bring this mRNA technology to help as many people as we can,” Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said at a Sept. 19 press conference in Laval. “COVID is just the beginning. We have so many more exciting products coming in infectious disease, but also cancer, in rare genetic disease, and soon, I believe, in autoimmune disease.”
Moderna’s Spikevax product that makes up the mRNA vaccine is now being manufactured at the production facility in Laval, and the new single-use syringes will be pre-filled by Novocol Pharma at a “fill-finish” facility in Cambridge, Ont.
Industry Minister Mélanie Joly called the announcement a “milestone” and a “major achievement” for Canada’s biomanufacturing and life sciences sector.
“Moderna’s investment in Canada strengthens our national life sciences industry, creates good-paying new jobs for Canadians, and bolsters our national security,” Joly said in a Sept. 19 statement.
Since March 2020, Ottawa has spent more than $2.5 billion in the Canadian biomanufacturing and life sciences sector. The federal government announced in 2022 it finalized an agreement with Moderna and the company would build the vaccine production facility in Quebec. Construction of the facility was completed in 2024.
US Administration
The Moderna stock price hit just over US$480 near the end of 2021, but has now dropped to roughly $25 as of Sept. 19. During the pandemic, both Moderna and Pfizer shares steadily increased, after the companies introduced the widely used mRNA vaccines. However, both companies’ stock prices dropped amid a decline in demand for COVID-19 vaccinations.
In August, U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced the administration was cancelling and redirecting 22 mRNA vaccine development contracts “because the data show these vaccines fail to protect effectively against upper respiratory infections like COVID and flu.”
The announcement followed a review of mRNA-related investments that were initiated during the pandemic period. Kennedy said the U.S. administration was “shifting that funding toward safer, broader vaccine platforms that remain effective even as viruses mutate.”
“Let me be absolutely clear: [The Department of Health and Human Services] supports safe, effective vaccines for every American who wants them,” Kennedy said. “That’s why we’re moving beyond the limitations of mRNA and investing in better solutions.”
Jeff Louderback and Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.
Olivia Gomm is a news reporter with the Canadian edition of The Epoch Times.