Noubar Afeyan, in an interview with The Associated Press also reiterated a promise Moderna made a decade ago not to enforce patent infringement against anyone else who created a coronavirus vaccination during the pandemic.
Afeyan stated that "we didn't have the obligation to do so." He said, "We believe that that was the responsible thing."
Moderna has been pressed by the United Nations to share its vaccine recipe. Afeyan stated that the company had examined whether sharing the messenger RNA technology would be better and found it possible to expand production and provide billions more doses by 2022.
Afeyan stated that the best way to produce high-quality vaccines in a timely manner and within the next six to nine month is to do so. When asked about appeals by the World Health Organization and other organizations, Afeyan stated that they assumed "that we couldn’t get enough capacity", but in reality, we know we can.
Moderna "went zero production to have 1 billion doses within less than a year," Afeyan stated. This refers to the Massachusetts-based company’s sprint to develop and mass produce the vaccine. "And we believe we will be in a position to go from one to three billion" by 2022.
Moderna's sole commercial product is the COVID-19 vaccine. Last week, the company announced plans to open a vaccine factory somewhere in Africa. Afeyan stated that he hopes that a decision on the exact location will be made soon. It could still take many years to get it up and running.
Afeyan spoke during the final day of his Italy visit, where he met Pope Francis. He has called for universal vaccine access. Afeyan also visited Venice to promote a humanitarian prize.