Saudi Arabia Firm Partners with Moderna for mRNA Vaccines

Massachusetts-based Moderna, Inc. and Tabuk Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Company, a Saudi pharmaceuticals company, announced an agreement to commercialize the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine and future variant-specific booster candidates in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

“We are proud and excited at Tabuk to be partnering with Moderna to commercialize crucial vaccines to Saudi Arabia, building on our strategy to expand our specialty and innovative business and reinforces our leading position in the region. Our aspiration is to be the partner of choice to Moderna in the region and consider further strategic collaboration including local manufacturing in Saudi,” said Wisam Alkhatib Pharm., MBA., VP of Strategy and Business Development of Tabuk Pharmaceuticals, in a related press statement issued on June 11, 2021.

Moderna designs its mRNA vaccines using the virus's sequence, not on the virus itself.

Cambridge, MA-based Moderna’s mRNA platform builds on continuous advances in basic and applied mRNA science, delivery technology, and manufacturing, and has allowed the development of therapeutics and vaccines for infectious diseases, immuno-oncology, rare diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and auto-immune diseases.