Australian mRNA vaccines? Credit: franckreporter / istock / Getty Images Yesterday the Victorian Government announced a $50 million investment to set up a facility to develop and manufacture mRNA vaccines in Australia. Monash University’s experts will work with the Victorian Government, the University of Melbourne and The Doherty Institute to establish and scale mRNA vaccine manufacturing. “That’s just the start,” says Associate Professor Archa Fox, a molecular biologist and mRNA expert at the University of Western Australia. Although it’s early days, the Victorian Government announcement has been welcomed with enthusiasm by the Australian scientific community. “Great development… It’s time for all States and Territories to engage – we need to go further and establish a federated, collaborative and flexible network of R&D/manufacturing/clinical trials capability and capacity,” tweeted Professor Paul Young, a molecular virologist and research leader of the molecular clamp vaccine developed at the University of Queensland.