PETALING JAYA: Pharmaceutical and biotechnology company Moderna Inc has revealed plans to establish a new subsidiary in Malaysia, alongside three additional subsidiaries in Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong, demonstrating its commitment to the Asia-Pacific region as part of its long-term strategy and commercial vision.
Currently, it has a presence in Japan, South Korea, and Australia.
Its CEO Stéphane Bancel (pix) stated that the group is delighted to announce the future subsidiary to help deliver messenger RNA (mRNA) solutions to the people of Malaysia.
“Malaysia is a growing player in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry, and we look forward to exploring opportunities for local collaboration as Moderna expands its footprint in the Asia-Pacific region,” he said in a statement today.
Bancel is looking forward to building strong teams that can deliver on the potential this region and its mRNA platform has to offer.
The Nasdaq-listed player highlighted that the expansion plans reflects its confidence in the current growth trajectory of pharmaceutical and healthcare industries in Malaysia. It is also further encouraged by the government’s commitment to biotech research and development.
Moderna’s broader pipeline currently includes 40 development programs, of which 25 are in clinical trials. Furthermore, the group stated that it continues to update its Covid-19 strategy to address variants of concern such as Omicron and pioneer new vaccines and therapeutics for a range of diseases and conditions.
It is also developing mRNA medicines to potentially prevent and treat diseases with significant unmet needs across infectious diseases, immuno-oncology, rare and ultra-rare diseases, and autoimmune diseases.
Regulators have approved Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine in more than 70 markets, including at least 19 in the Asia-Pacific region. In August 2021,
Malaysia’s Ministry of Health granted Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine conditional approval for emergency use.
