WASHINGTON D.C., United States — Pharmaceutical and biotechnology company Moderna will set up a vaccine-making facility in the Philippines, which will serve the entire Asia-Pacific region, Malacañang said Tuesday (Wednesday Manila time).
According to the Presidential Communications Office, officials of Moderna told President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. that they are set to build a “shared service facility for pharmacovigilance” to provide more job opportunities to health professionals in the country.
Moderna officials told Marcos of their move to set up a vaccine-making facility in the country during a meeting with Philippine officials at the Blair House in Washington.
“We are really excited to have selected the Philippines for the third one primarily because you know the capabilities exist. We have the talent that exists, and we know that the partnership will be one that can be beneficial for both Moderna and the Philippines,” Moderna Chief Commercial Officer Arpa Garay said, as quoted by the PCO.
For his part, Moderna Senior Vice President and General Manager Patrick Bergstedt said there are other countries that offered shared services with Moderna but they have chosen the Philippines as the “perfect location” for their third shared service facility in the world.
He pointed out that the facility will have other shared services that will serve the entire Asia-Pacific region.
Moderna was among the pharmaceutical firms that pioneered the production of COVID-19 vaccines, which were distributed to the Philippines at the height of the pandemic.
Marcos met with the Moderna officials on Tuesday afternoon at the Blair House here along with former president and now Senior Deputy Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Speaker Martin Romualdez, Trade and Industry Secretary Alfredo Pascual, and Department of Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno, the PCO said.
Special Assistant to the President Secretary Antonio Ernesto Lagdameo Jr., Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez, and DTI Undersecretary Ceferino Rodolfo were also present during the meeting.
Once operational, it will be Moderna’s only shared service facility in Asia and the third in the world following Poland and Georgia, USA.
The PCO said it is expected to employ around 50 staff composed of health professionals with their shortlisted office location either in Makati or at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig.
The project will also be the first investment by Moderna in the Philippines and its first in Asia.
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