Australia will be at the top of the vaccine queue during future pandemics and first in line for the next generation of jabs targeting cancers, birth defects and other common illnesses.
That's the promise made by the local head of pharmaceutical giant Moderna, as the company opened a new mRNA vaccine facility in Melbourne backed by state and federal government funding.
Up to 100 million vaccine doses will be made each year at the Clayton facility in Melbourne's southeast and up to 200 million during a pandemic.
Jabs to protect against COVID-19, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) will roll off the production line in 2025.
Moderna also hopes to produce combined jabs to protect against the flu and COVID-19 within two years.
Australia would be "first in the queue at all times" for vaccines coming out of the Clayton facility, Australia and New Zealand general manager Michael Azrak said.
"Once we've started supply in Australia, Australia is our first priority," he told reporters in Clayton on Wednesday.
"First and foremost in country, for country - we'll then look at how can we potentially plug into the global manufacturing network."
The sole mRNA production plant in the southern hemisphere will also be home to research and surveillance work focused on potential threats that could emerge from neighbouring areas such as Southeast Asia.
Moderna is also working on jabs against cancers, and cytomegalovirus which can cause birth defects, and illnesses like norovirus which commonly spreads on cruise ships.
Mr Azrak hopes these will start being made at the Clayton facility within five years.
He also cited academic research predicting a 20 to 40 per cent chance of another global pandemic within 30 years.
Federal Health Minister Mark Butler said the new plant was a major step forward in ensuring Australia was prepared for future pandemics, and would also tie into broader health research.
"With this facility, Australia will be less dependent on imported mRNA vaccines during a pandemic," Mr Butler said.
"We'll be less vulnerable to supply disruptions or delays caused by global events, a resurgence of COVID-19 infections, or indeed, a new, different pandemic."
Earlier in 2024, building work started on fellow global pharmaceutical giant BioNTech's mRNA facility in Bundoora in Melbourne's north.
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan said Melbourne's position as a global biotech leader has been cemented along with London in the UK and Boston in the US.
"Melbourne and Victoria will be the only place in the world where the two global leaders in mRNA (research and development) and manufacturing operate from the one city, we'll be the only city in the world," she said.
The deal between Moderna, and the state and federal governments was inked while ex-Liberal prime minister Scott Morrison was in power and the agreement is reportedly worth $2 billion, however, Ms Allan declined to give details on Wednesday citing commercial in confidence reasons.
The funding arrangement lasts for ten years but Ms Allan said investments by all parties indicate "we know we're in it for the long haul".
