The decisions by BioNTech and Moderna to invest in other vaccine sites in African and not assist the mRNA Technology Transfer Hub in South Africa will prolong the social and economic costs of the pandemic, says David Richard Walwyn.
Pharmaceutical company Moderna announced on 7 March 2022 that it would develop a site in Kenya to manufacture Covid-19 vaccines. The company holds much of the key intellectual property relating to the messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines. Due to their higher efficacy, mRNA vaccines are the preferred option in developed countries. They account for 92% of all vaccinations to date in the US and European Union. Moderna’s decision to continue making the vaccine itself, though on the Kenyan site, is a signal that the company (at least for the moment) is not considering licensing its technology to a third party for local manufacture. In this way, the company keeps closer control over who has full knowledge of, and is able to use productively, its technology. Licensing is an arrangement which has lower cost but greater vulnerabilities for licensors.
Moves by Moderna and BioNTech to make vaccines themselves in African countries signal that the companies aren’t considering licensing its technology to a third party for local manufacture.