FOCUS – According to someone close to the case, Moderna is asking the French government for a “long-term purchase commitment” of its respiratory vaccines.
Frenchman Stéphane Bancel has not given up on setting up a Moderna factory in France. “There are regular discussions at the highest level of the state, including a few days ago, told AFP the boss of the American biotech, passing through Paris. I know that there is a strong desire from the President of the Republic.» It remains for the two parties to agree on the conditions…
According to someone close to the case, Moderna is asking the French government for a “long-term purchase commitment” of its respiratory vaccines. A way for the young company – which is working on a vaccine combining Covid, influenza and other respiratory diseases – to limit the risks given the cost of building a factory, of the order of one billion euros. “As always, we have to agree (…), we are not there yet, but I think we are making progresssaid Stéphane Bancel. We keep talking: it’s a good sign.»
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It was the will of Great Britain that convinced Moderna last June to pay 1.1 billion pounds to set up a factory and a research and development center there dedicated to messenger RNA vaccines. And this, under the nose of the French authorities… The former government of Boris Johnson then undertook to buy vaccines from American biotech over the next ten years. “By building a factory in Great Britain, we offer the British government – which has a long-term partnership with us – the capacity to respond to future pandemics”had welcomed Stéphane Bancel, whose company made last year 18.5 billion dollars in turnover.
The future site, which will serve the domestic market from 2025, will be added to those located in Canada, Australia and Kenya. For the French leader, having sites around the world makes it possible to counter the North-South inequality in vaccination, but also the risks of protectionism, as was the case during the Covid. A way to prepare for future pandemics.