2023-07-05 20:00:00
DISPATCH — The American laboratory Moderna has signed a memorandum of understanding with China to carry out research on messenger RNA there, and to produce drugs there for the national market. An announcement that is part of the reopening of Chinese borders to the rest of the world.
According to the Chinese financial media Yicai, the investment would amount to one billion dollars. It was Stéphane Bancel, the French boss of Moderna, who was in Shanghai on Wednesday July 5 for the signing ceremony.
This protocol should allow Moderna to research, develop and produce drugs using messenger RNA technology in China. The laboratory was already one of the first to have developed a vaccine against Covid-19 based on messenger RNA. In August 2022, the company had also filed a complaint against Pfizer and BioNTech for patent infringement.
Read also: Moderna sues Pfizer and BioNTech for mRNA vaccine patent infringement
The difference is that this time, their productions will be exclusively for China: “Any medicine produced under this agreement will be exclusively for the Chinese people — who face the same challenges as other communities around the world — and will not be exported,” said the biotech.
The same could be true for their Covid-19 vaccine, but so far Beijing has always favored its own serums.
Beijing has so far refused to give the green light to Moderna’s vaccine against Covid-19, as well as those from other laboratories, favoring its own serums (without RNA).
As AFP reports, this announcement confirms the return of foreign investors to China, which has abandoned its so-called “zero Covid” health policy and reopened its borders this year. Recently, Bill Gates was received in Beijing by Chinese President Xi Jinping, on the occasion of a visit intended to support China’s efforts in medical research.
Several other behemoths of the American economy, including Tesla boss Elon Musk, who came in May, have also visited China recently.
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