Germany has inaugurated a new mRNA production facility in Halle, which has the capacity to manufacture up to 200 million doses of mRNA vaccines per year. The facility cost €100 million to build.
What is the purpose of investing in a factory to produce mRNA vaccines when the COVID-19 pandemic is officially over and the market for these vaccines may not exist?
However, the German government has made mRNA manufacturing a central part of its industrial policy in the hopes of turning the country into a global “hub” for mRNA vaccines.
The government has signed contracts with multiple manufacturers to reserve vaccine manufacturing capacity for future use, with a total of nearly €3 billion in payments.
The capacity being reserved is significantly larger than what the domestic market would require, suggesting that Germany aims to supply the European and global markets. The new facility is located in Halle, and along with its existing manufacturing capacity, could potentially produce over 1.5 billion doses of mRNA vaccines per year.
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