Harwell science campus chosen for new Moderna vaccine base

Covid-19 vaccine manufacturer Moderna has chosen a science campus as its UK base for the development of future medicines.

The firm said the Innovation and Technology Centre would be built by the year 2025 at Harwell, Oxfordshire.

It said the site would "provide the UK public with access to mRNA vaccines for a wide range of respiratory diseases".

Under the agreement, the UK has made a commitment to buy Moderna's vaccines for the next decade.

Darius Hughes, Moderna's UK general manager, said the research and manufacturing base would deliver "innovative vaccines to the UK public that address emerging threats to our population".

Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay said: "Moderna's new Innovation and Technology Centre means NHS patients will have access to cutting-edge mRNA vaccines to fight against future variants of Covid, as well as other respiratory viruses, while also creating hundreds of jobs.

"Harwell is already leading science and innovation in the UK and we look forward to the opening of this new mRNA centre."

The mRNA technology uses bits of genetic code to cause an immune response by presenting the body with instructions to build immunity to a virus.

It proved to be one of the fastest routes to developing vaccines during the Covid pandemic and experts believe it could help in other areas such as cancer, flu and heart disease.