Moderna open to supplying COVID vaccines to China, CEO says

[September 14, 2022]  TOKYO (Reuters) -Moderna Inc has talked with the Chinese government about supplying COVID-19 vaccines, but no decision has been made, CEO Stephane Bancel said on Wednesday.

"We are open, we have the capacity" Bancel said about supplying its mRNA-based shots to the country, declining to say whether Moderna had submitted its vaccine for approval there.

There is about a 20% probability that a "problematic" variant of the virus could emerge this winter, Bancel said, adding it was not his base case scenario.

"We should just always be humble about biology," he said.

Bancel, speaking in Tokyo, said Moderna is considering building facilities in Japan to produce mRNA-derived products.

Japan on Monday approved vaccine boosters from Moderna and Pfizer Inc that target the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

Syringes with needles are seen in front of a displayed Moderna logo in this illustration taken November 27, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

Moderna sued Pfizer Inc and its partner BioNTech SE last month for patent infringement in the development of the first COVID vaccine approved in the United States.

Moderna believed from the beginning of the outbreak that BioNTech was using its technology and patents, but decided to wait until the pandemic subsided to file suit, Bancel said.

(Reporting by Rocky Swift; editing by Tom Hogue and Jason Neely)

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