The US biotech, one of the first companies to launch a highly successful mRNA-based shot for Covid-19, has confirmed local reports that it is spending $91 million of its vaccine profit to acquire a biomanufacturing facility at Marlborough, Massachusetts. Moderna, which later confirmed the purchase to the Marlborough city council, but provided no detailed information on what it plans to produce there, said its investment could total at least $322 million, including the cost of expanding the premises up to September this year. The plans include clean rooms and a warehouse.

For the local investment, the city has agreed a tax increment financing (TIF) deal, which exempts the company from property taxes through 2026. Under the arrangement, the rate of exemption will gradually decrease until 2043, after which Moderna will pay a full assessed rate.

In exchange for the tax break, Moderna has guaranteed that it will employ at least 200 people at the site, including technicians to perform engineering, process management, maintenance and manufacturing. Worldwide, it plans to add 2,000 employees this year, bringing the workforce to 6,000.

In March, the biotech announced Oxfordshire as the site of the new UK Innovation and Technology Center, which it plans to open in 2025. The site will have the capacity to produce 250 million vaccine doses annually.

Author: Dede Williams, Freelance Journalist