Cramlington firm Merit completes offsite construction of new laboratory for Moderna

52 pods were built in the firm’s Cramlington factory and have now been transported to the site and assembled into the facility, which will be used by biotechnology company Moderna.

Development began in March 2023 and the offsite components were ready to be transported by October.

Once complete, the facilities, at the Harwell Campus, will be used by Moderna for vaccine research from 2024 and manufacturing from 2025.

Merit CEO Tony Wells said: “It is incredibly exciting to see the offsite components of this facility leave our Cramlington factory for Harwell.

“Ultimately, our team has pioneered a high-quality, specialised offsite solution that will bring highly advanced technology and medicines to market to help protect public health across the UK.

“Merit’s product is ideally suited to meet Moderna’s requirements, bringing enormous advantages in terms of quality and speed, both of which are critical factors for the sector.”

The contract helped Merit create 50 jobs and 21 new apprentice opportunities.

Darius Hughes, UK general manager at Moderna, said: “We would like to thank our partners at Merit for constructing the off-site components of these state-of-the-art laboratories, which will play a key role in our search for new vaccines and therapeutics.”

Stuart Grant, chief executive of Harwell Campus, added: “The delivery of these prefabricated laboratories is another fantastic example of innovative UK engineering being deployed at Harwell Campus.

“We are excited to take such a significant step towards completing the Moderna Innovation and Technology Centre and enabling such crucial research.”