Cambridge, Mass.–headquartered Moderna (NSDQ:MRNA) will hire at least 155 new manufacturing employees for manufacturing jobs at its plant in Norwood, Mass.
A $2.33 million tax incentive from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center helped bankroll the expansion. The investment will enable the company to double the size of its manufacturing site in Norwood, Mass., which became operational in 2018.
With limited manufacturing capability, Moderna has had to rely on partners with contract manufacturers such as Lonza (SWX:LONN), Catalent (NYSE: CTLT), Baxter BioPharma Solutions (NYSE: BAX), Recipharm and Laboratorios Farmacéuticos Rovi (BME:ROVI).
COVID-19 vaccine sales are fueling more growth. The company anticipates that it will generate $19.2 billion in revenue this year. That level of revenue would likely catapult the company into the top 20 pharmaceutical companies. For context, the top two pharma companies had approximately $50 billion in revenue in 2020.
[Related: U.S. buys 200 million more Moderna vaccine doses for potential boosters and use in children]
Moderna is also looking to expand beyond COVID-19 vaccines. It currently has 24 development programs, and 14 of those are in clinical studies.
Those pipeline candidates include mRNA-1647, an experimental vaccine for cytomegalovirus, a common virus without an approved vaccine. A Phase 2 trial for mRNA-1647 is underway.
The company is also developing vaccines against the human metapneumovirus and parainfluenza virus 3, the Zika virus and respiratory syncytial virus vaccine.
The company is also in talks with South Korea to potentially invest $200 million in that country to shore up its vaccine supply, according to Reuters.