Moderna in late stage talks for UK research facility in post-Brexit boost
Famed vaccine maker Moderna is reportedly in late-stage investment talks for a research facility in either London, Oxford or Cambridge.
The US biotech company is looking to collaborate with the NHS, the Financial Times first reported, in a move which would be a “key element” of the UK’s post-Brexit ambition to become a global life sciences hub.
It would seat the UK in a prime position in the development of new vaccines and therapeutics, according to the report.
It would also mean more jobs for Britain as it recovers from the pandemic, with Moderna reportedly planning on hiring people to run clinical trials within the national health service.
The report comes just days after health secretary Sajid Javid met with CEO of the Boston-based biotech Stephane Bacel.
“The UK is ideally placed to become a life sciences superpower, and collaboration with world leading companies is crucial to this,” Javid said on Thursday.
Moderna is already creating a string of bases around the world, having already cut deals with Australia and Canada, after having just one facility just outside of Boston prior to the pandemic.
City PM has contacted Moderna and the Department for Health and Social Care for comment.