Question Period Note: STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP WITH MODERNA (VACCINE PRODUCTION FACILITY)

What are the details of the strategic partnership between Moderna and the Government of Canada?

• In August 2021, the Government of Canada established a memorandum of understanding with Moderna to build a state-of-the-art mRNA vaccine production facility in Canada.
• Today’s announcement of Moderna choosing to build its facility in Quebec shows tremendous progress in federal efforts to bring leading mRNA technologies to Canada.
• The government is working closely with Moderna to finalize the details of a strategic partnership that meets the needs of Canadians and creates maximum value and opportunities.
• With this eventual facility, Canada will be able to leverage innovation in vaccine development and be better prepared for future pandemics through timely and secure access to domestically produced mRNA vaccines for Canadians.

• The COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced the importance of maintaining domestic biomanufacturing capabilities to ensure resilience and the ability to address future health emergencies.

• Since the onset of the pandemic, the government has committed more than $1.6 billion to 30 projects in the life sciences sector to domestically develop and produce safe and effective vaccines and therapeutics to respond to COVID-19, and other health priorities.

• Last summer, the Government released its Biomanufacturing and Life Sciences Strategy. The Strategy details Canada’s plan for ensuring preparedness for future health emergencies, and includes a focus on establishing domestic production capacity across leading vaccine production platforms.

• Moderna’s proven capabilities with mRNA vaccine technology make it an important part of our comprehensive plan to ensure rapid response in future pandemics and health emergencies.

• Throughout the pandemic, mRNA vaccines have proven to be highly-effective in preventing serious illness and death from COVID-19, and have set the standard for speed, flexibility, and scalability of vaccine development and manufacturing.
• To date, Moderna is one of only two companies to successfully develop and commercialize an mRNA vaccine for the novel COVID-19 virus.
• Canada was one of the first countries to enter into an advance purchase agreement for Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine in July 2020.
• The Government of Canada announced the creation of the Biomanufacturing and Life Sciences Strategy on July 28, 2021, to re-build a strong and resilient domestic biomanufacturing and life sciences sector.

• The Government of Canada and Moderna announced a memorandum of understanding in August 2021 outlining Moderna’s intention to build a state-of-the-art mRNA vaccine manufacturing facility in Canada. Negotiations have been ongoing to finalize this long-term agreement and strategic partnership.
• At this time, the location of the new Moderna facility is confirmed to be in the province of Quebec; however, the exact location is not yet confirmed. On April 27, 2022, numerous media outlets reported that Moderna would build its state-of-the-art mRNA facility in Montreal.
• Moderna and the Government of Canada remain committed to finalizing their strategic partnership in delivering pandemic preparedness for Canada, in line with the principles negotiated in the memorandum of understanding.