Moderna, a US pharmaceutical and biotechnology company, announced the suspension of its plans to construct an mRNA manufacturing facility in Kenya.
The decision stems from a decline in demand for COVID-19 vaccines across Africa since the onset of the pandemic, rendering the Kenyan facility financially unfeasible. Moderna disclosed that it hasn’t received any vaccine orders for the continent since 2022, leading to over $1 billion in losses and write-downs due to canceled orders.
This pause allows Moderna to realign its investments with the evolving healthcare landscape and vaccine requirements in Africa. Initially, in March 2022, then Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta oversaw the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Kenya and Moderna, aiming to produce up to 500 million vaccine doses annually for Africa, focusing on drug substance manufacturing.