Moderna, a biopharmaceutical company developing messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics and vaccines, has announced an expansion of its manufacturing technology center in Norwood, Massachusetts by more than doubling production and lab space.

The expansion of the Moderna Technology Center includes increasing the company’s production and lab space from approximately 300,000 square feet to approximately 650,000 square feet through renovation of existing space and the acquisition of a 240,000-square-foot building located on the same campus for expansion of its commercial and clinical activities.

The expansion will support a 50% increase in production of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine, which is expected to ramp up in late 2021 and early 2022.

Last month (April 2021), Moderna announced an investment at its owned and partnered manufacturing facilities to increase 2022 global capacity to up to 3 billion doses of its COVID-19 vaccine. The exact supply target depends upon the mix between the authorized Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at the 100-μg dose level and potentially lower doses of the company’s variant booster candidates and pediatric vaccines, if authorized. The company also raised its 2021 manufacturing supply forecast to between 800 million to 1 billion doses.

The expansion at its Norwood facility will also support other Moderna products. The expansion includes an increase in Moderna’s technical development capacity and preclinical production capability with the goal of producing thousands of preclinical samples per month for research and development. The expansion will also increase the company’s technical capabilities in shelf-life stability and pharmaceutical delivery forms such as prefilled syringes and lyophilized products.

Source: Moderna