What Asia’s scramble for mRNA production facilities means for the future of vaccine manufacturing in the region
- Australia, South Korea and Singapore are among the governments now racing to establish facilities to manufacture the hi-tech jabs
- These could power future treatments against diseases such as cancer and HIV/Aids – but will they be enough to stop the next pandemic?
For countries that did not secure abundant vaccine supplies early on, the moves are unlikely to boost their sluggish vaccination drives in the short-term or accelerate their exits from the coronavirus pandemic.
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Some experts believe the pioneering technology behind the shots, which have proven more effective and easier to adapt to virus mutations than their rivals, could power future treatments against diseases such as cancer and HIV/Aids.
“Countries have realised that they are highly dependent on vaccine supplies from elsewhere and they are finding it difficult to get what they need to deal with their public health crisis,” said Thomas Preiss, a molecular biologist at the Australian National University.