A vaxxing problem: why arenât more Australian companies producing vaccines?
Weâre sorry, this service is currently unavailable. Please try again later.
Dismiss
Normal text size
Very large text size
In Melbourne, a manufacturing facility that could potentially be repurposed to help produce a COVID-19 vaccine sits idle. The facility â owned by pharmaceutical company IDT Australia â was opened in 2008 by then-premier John Brumby, and among the types of products made on its production line were antibiotics. But the facility fell into disuse as it became cheaper to manufacture medicines offshore.
In March, the federal Health Department asked IDT to conduct a feasibility assessment to determine if its facility could be used âto supplement the production capacity for a COVID-19 vaccineâ. The answer was yes. IDT facilities could be used to produce a vaccine, including an mRNA vaccine.