Kenya on Thursday signed the deal for the establishment of a Moderna mRNA vaccine facility in Kenya.
President William Ruto made the announcement during the American Chamber of Commerce Regional Business Summit at the Ole Sereni Hotel in Nairobi.
"It is with pleasure that I announce the finalised deal between Moderna and the government of Kenya to build a Sh500 million dollar MRNA vaccine facility in Nairobi," Ruto said.
Shannon Klinger, Moderna's Chief Legal Officer, and Corporate Secretary signed the deal virtually from the US on behalf of the company.
"Your excellency President Ruto, on behalf of Moderna's Board of Directors, and our CEO Stéphane Bancel, we are very grateful to you and your government for the vision and partnership for this endeavor," she said.
Klinger said partnerships of this kind are essential in exploring the possibility of mRNA to tackle the world's greatest public health crisis.
"I look forward to what is ahead of us as we work together to positively impact human health," she added.
The agreement will see Moderna establish a state-of-the-art mRNA facility in the city with the goal of producing up to 500 million doses of vaccines each year.
The memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the project was signed in between Moderna Inc and the Kenyan government in March 2022.
"Because of this facility and what we had to put in it, I have never had many sleepless nights and so much trouble from Ambassador Margaret Whitman. I'm very happy that finally, this is done," Ruto said.
This will be the only such facility in Africa and Moderna's first outside the US.
The company will pump up to Sh70 billion of investment into the project.
"This is major. This is my administration's vision for the future of Kenya," the President said.
The new facility will focus on drug substance manufacturing for the continent of Africa and could also be expanded to include filling and packaging capabilities at the site.
