Job creation, increase in the median salary, “momentum” for research: the new Montreal factory of Moderna will have a “very positive” effect on the economy here, predicts the president of the American pharmaceutical company.
Posted at 7:00 a.m.
“We are going to have a very positive effect on the Montreal economy, I think. The salary level will be high in the profession. We are talking about people who have significant scientific and technical knowledge. But also, there will be all the trades around which will be created indirectly, ”says the CEO of Moderna, Stéphane Bancel, in an interview with The Press.
He maintains that the economic “ecosystem” he wants to create around the factory will involve “a whole network of trades”, from the pastry chef to the restaurateur, via local shops. “It’s the most important thing for us: helping the economy here,” he insists.
Wednesday, The Press revealed that Montreal had beaten Toronto to host this pharmaceutical giant’s RNA vaccine production plant. We still do not know the exact place where the factory will be installed, but several “strategic sectors” of the island have already been defined, says the main interested party. An announcement should follow soon. And Moderna aims to begin construction as early as next summer.
“We want a factory quickly, so we absolutely have to start the foundations and all that before the ground is too hard come winter,” says Mr. Bancel, who estimates that construction “will take two to three years.”
This type of plant is “very complex” to set up, he recalls. “We make products that are injected into human beings, so there are very important health rules to follow. And we’re really going to start the site from nothing, so we have to build everything and validate everything. »
For each machine, each computer system, each software, we must prove to Health Canada that everything works exactly as expected. There is a very high quality requirement that takes time, beyond construction. And of course, training staff also takes time.
Stephane Bancel, CEO of Moderna
He does not plan another plant in Canada for the moment, but does not close the door. “In the future, we will see the demand. If there is a need, we will always be open to making another factory, but for the moment, the goal is to make this one work. »
An economic advantage first
At a press conference on Friday, the Premier of Quebec, François Legault, also argued that the advantage of the arrival of an actor like Moderna in Montreal was primarily economic. “If we want to continue to reduce the wealth gap with our neighbours, we have to increase the average wage. And there, we will have paying jobs, ”he said.
He hopes to see the culture “change” in Quebec in the way universities work with the business community. “Working with companies takes nothing away from universities. On the contrary, it allows us to do more,” he pleaded, saying he wanted to multiply the “zones of innovation” in the province that do “applied and commercialized” research.
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
Justin Trudeau and Francois Legault
“The arrival of Moderna will create hundreds of good jobs and will allow us to continue to stimulate talent here in science”, also welcomed the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, confirming that the plant would have a production capacity of 100 million doses per year, for both COVID-19 and influenza vaccines. His government also intends to “create an environment where there will be an effervescence of research and production”.
In total, the plant will cost 180 million, according to what François Legault said. Ottawa, for its part, will inject an additional budget to buy vaccines from the new factory.
“We are going to invent the future of vaccines here at home,” said François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, speaking of a major step for the Canadian research ecosystem. . “It’s a consecration,” finally rejoiced the Minister of Health of Quebec, Christian Dubé, according to whom the entire health network will benefit from this new plant.
Behind the scenes, it is recalled that this plant represents a decisive step in the efforts of the Trudeau government to rebuild the biomanufacturing and life sciences sector in the country. The plant will make it possible to consolidate the ecosystem of the pharmaceutical industry in the Montreal region, in order to prepare – for example – for other “possible pandemics”.
Moderna is one of two major makers of messenger RNA COVID-19 vaccines in the world – the other being Pfizer-BioNTech. The vaccines produced by these two companies have been used by many countries to vaccinate their populations, including Canada and the United States.