Moderna to open vaccine factory in Canada, its first abroad

MONTREAL (AP) — American pharmaceutical company Moderna says it will build a vaccine factory in Montreal, its first outside of the United States. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Trudeau said Friday that the factory will be operational as soon as 2024. He says it will employ up to 300 people and able to produce 100 million doses of mRNA vaccines a year for a range of illnesses. Quebec Premier Francois Legault says the $140.5 million factory will reinforce domestic supply chains and vaccine independence. The family of Moderna co-founder Noubar Afeyan fled to Montreal after escaping Lebanon’s civil war and he attended university there.