FOI 25-0148 LD – MRNA Vaccine Manufacture

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The Morrison Government pursued onshore mRNA vaccine manufacturing capability through an approach to market soliciting industry proposals and direct discussions with Moderna about establishing an Australian facility. Cabinet messaging documents from August 2021 emphasize that mRNA technology, despite decades of prior research, had never been successfully developed for human use before COVID-19. The Pfizer/BioNTech mRNA vaccine received emergency approval in Australia on 25 January 2021, following US approval in December 2020, with Moderna approved shortly after. The government positioned onshore manufacturing as essential for pandemic preparedness and economic growth in high-tech medical manufacturing. Ministerial submission MS21-900300 documents formal recommendations regarding responses to the manufacturing market approach, though specific details of those recommendations and industry responses are redacted under cabinet privilege exemptions.