In Melbourne, a manufacturing facility that could potentially be repurposed to help produce a COVID-19 vaccine sits idle. The facility – owned by pharmaceutical company IDT Australia – was opened in 2008 by then-premier John Brumby, and among the types of products made on its production line were antibiotics. But the facility fell into disuse as it became cheaper to manufacture medicines offshore.
The Victorian government announced last week that it would invest $50 million to fund the manufacturing of mRNA vaccines. While Pfizer and Moderna have commercially available mRNA vaccines, Australian universities, such as Monash, have also developed mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, which could be ready for manufacture and clinical trials if more local production facilities were made available.
The move by the Victorian government to develop a manufacturing facility for mRNA vaccines comes as the timetable to vaccinate all Australians continues to slip, as it has also in some other countries. The reasons for the delay include unexpected safety concerns with vaccines and bottlenecks in supply.
The spokesperson said Pfizer was not in discussion with Australian companies on mRNA manufacturing, and remained focused on its hubs in Europe and the United States. “At this time we are not in discussions for any additional manufacturing outside these established supply lines for this vaccine,” the spokesperson said. “Once the pandemic supply phase is over, and we enter a phase of regular supplies, Pfizer will certainly evaluate all additional opportunities available.
The fragility in the global supply of pharmaceutical products was highlighted in a Productivity Commission report released last month. It noted the problem with pharmaceuticals was that they often come from a single foreign source.
Because we prefer flipping houses to each other and digging stuff out off the ground rather than actually producing something in this country.
You'll never ever get a vaccine that works without my dna which was used to create the virus and I'll never give my DNA.
Morrison should be supporting the manufacturing industry full stop But he isn’t a capable leader
Morrison has had to be dragged kicking and screaming since early last year into actually taking this seriously. He's still not fully aware of what a pandemic means. Doesn't have the basic intelligence.