USA — Moderna, the mRNA vaccine and therapeutics developer, has announced its growth plans, which include global expansion and the hiring of approximately 2,000 new employees worldwide by the end of 2023.
In addition, the company is expanding its presence in the US by establishing corporate offices on the West Coast in South San Francisco, California, and Seattle, Washington.
Chief human resources officer, Tracey Franklin, said, “We are making significant investments in both people and infrastructure to build the most impactful version of Moderna.”
The new Seattle location will focus on scaling the implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud-based tools across the company’s platform.
Meanwhile, Moderna Genomics will expand to South San Francisco, joining its existing U.S. locations in Cambridge and Norwood, Massachusetts; Atlanta, Georgia; Bethesda, Maryland; and Princeton, New Jersey.
Chief information officer, Brad Miller, said, “Moderna is investing to fully realize our ambition of embedding technology into everything we do.”
He added that the company is rapidly hiring across key tech capabilities in the Seattle area, which is known for its highly skilled talent.
With these expansion efforts, Moderna aims to build a stronger and more impactful organization while also pushing forward the frontiers of science and technology.
Moderna is continuing its growth trajectory with plans to establish new corporate offices in South San Francisco, California, and Seattle, Washington, in the US. However, the company has not disclosed a timeline for when these offices will be completed.
Despite the challenges posed by macroeconomic headwinds affecting the global pharma supply chain, including raw material and manufacturing component shortages caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Moderna has continued to make significant investments in expanding its operations.
The company’s exponential growth has been driven by the success of its mRNA-based Spikevax vaccine, which has been authorized for emergency use in numerous countries.
Moderna has also been expanding its global presence by establishing hubs in the UK, Canada, and Australia to boost vaccine production.
Moderna has also established several hubs around the world, including in the UK, Canada, and Australia, to ramp up vaccine production.
Furthermore, Moderna has pledged approximately US$500 million to build a new factory in Africa, aimed at producing millions of doses of mRNA vaccines annually.
However, the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war has added another layer of complexity to the global pharma supply chain, with disruptions in the transport of goods and materials.
Despite these challenges, Moderna has continued to make significant investments in expanding its operations, leveraging its mRNA technology to develop vaccines and therapeutics.
Going against the flow
Moderna’s plans for a global hiring spree are noteworthy at a time when many other pharmaceutical companies are laying off employees.
Several companies have announced layoffs in recent months. Arch Oncology, based in St. Louis, has laid off its employees and vacated its office.
Aristea Therapeutics, located in San Diego, has decided to dissolve the company after halting its RIST4721 development program.
Quantum-Si, a proteomics company, will lay off about 12% of its workforce. Personalis, a cancer genomics specialist, has announced that it will cut up to 30% of its workforce.
Grifols, the Spanish pharma company, plans to trim 8% of its employees, equivalent to roughly 2,300 jobs.
Amgen, a pharma company, is undergoing a restructuring effort that includes layoffs of around 300 employees.
Thermo Fisher Scientific has said it would cut more than 200 jobs at three California manufacturing sites. Merck KGaA is letting go of 133 jobs in Billerica, Massachusetts.
Cyteir Therapeutics has cut its workforce by 70% and Jounce Therapeutics has cut its workforce by 57%.
Editas is cutting 60 employees to focus on blood disease medication EDIT-301, discontinuing investments in its IRD and iPSC programs.
TCR² Therapeutics is laying off 40% of its staff and focusing on ovarian cancer and TRuC T-cell therapy programs due to difficult capital market conditions.
Y-mAbs Therapeutics is downsizing after the FDA rejected its drug for pediatric cancer, omburtamab. Fate Therapeutics is cutting 315 employees due to the early end of its deal with Janssen.
Century Therapeutics is trimming 25% of its workforce and closing lab operations to focus on specific programs. Sanofi’s downsizing initiative in India may affect 800 employees.
Lastly, Instil Bio has reduced its U.S. workforce to a team of roughly 15 employees while consolidating clinical manufacturing and trial operations of its genetically-engineered CoStAR-TIL therapy to Manchester, UK.
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