A much shorter time frame is not only possible but has been achieved (from start to finish) by Germany in just over 3 to 4 months in Marburg for example. When you have switched on Federal & State Govt support things can get done quickly & effectively.
Guess which large Australian vaccine manufacturer with a massive vested interest in NOT having a mRNA facility start-up in Australia - apparently provided the space in Marburg for Pfizer to use? If true then an agreement to produce the Pfizer vaccine in Melbourne would have been a non issue (see below). If true (as the article suggests) then that creates some very unpleasant questions IMHO.
Similar switch in production outcome in a small Austrian village as well (previously detailed).
Actual detailed planning, construction, preparation, installation, regulatory licensing & proving, although the article below has the article mentioning 6 months (financial close did not occur for 3 months after deal announced & they gained access in December 2020).
Scientists have been warning the government for months of the need to develop a domestic mRNA capability
www.theguardian.com
“Provided that these companies were willing to strike such licensing deals, local mRNA manufacturing facilities could now be up and running and producing an mRNA vaccine,” he said. (Pfizer/BioNTech has shown it is willing & has done a number of deals).
The manufacturing capability can be achieved relatively quickly.
Priess said in his hometown of Marburg, Germany, BioNTech had purchased space at a local biotech campus owned by CSL and, starting from scratch, had begun production of its mRNA vaccine within six months.
He said the Australian government should have at least included onshore mRNA production as a second option in its vaccine plan, given it would have required “only relatively modest investments”.
It does make you wonder why they didn't?
As it so happens there is/was an existing (regulatory approved & operatonal) pharmaceutical site available in Melbourne seemingly with state of the art packaging systems for vaccines (which CSL is lacking & the main cause of its vaccine output delays/problems).
By Peter Roberts The announcement that the Victorian government will back a new mRNA vaccine production facility with $50 million has offered new hope to the giant GSK pharmaceutical operation at Boronia in eastern Melbourne which has been slated for closure by the global group. With GSK...
www.aumanufacturing.com.au
"...giant GSK pharmaceutical operation at Boronia in eastern Melbourne which has been slated for closure by the global group.
With GSK re-directing its businesses towards biopharmaceuticals it has no need of the site – but the state and Australia have need of it as we battle to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic and ensure future vaccine supplies.
....
BioDiem chairman Ken Windle, who worked at the plant and became Asia Pacific head of GSK before striking out on his own, said the company could produce an mRNA vaccine within a year of getting access to the plant.
It would also utilise prefilled injector systems from ApiJect Systems which incorporates specialist inspection machines made by Melbourne’s Andrew Donald Design Engineering.
mRNA technology is new and the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are the first globally to have been made successfully….but it is not a technology present in Australia today.
The GSK plant already manufactures the Rotarix vaccine and, crucially, specialises in the blow-fill-seal technology needed to encapsulate the vaccine in a ready to use form."
GSK’s Australian operations, ironically, were born in the emergency of war when Turkey cut off the allies’ supplies of opium to produce morphine."
...and has been available for some time, more than long enough to be manufacturing Pfizer/BioNTech doses (if the Federal Govt had wanted to) by now similar to how the Marburg facility in Germany had a small component taken over to produce around 250 million doses/year after just 3 to 4 months effort.
Pharma News: In July 2020, GSK Australia announced to employees and stakeholders that the Boronia site in VIC would exit the GSK manufacturing network and that a review would determine the next steps. Today, GSK confirms the closure of the Boronia manufacturing facility at the end of 2022.
I am sure that either GSK or BioDiem would have welcomed a 10 year offtake deal worth much less than the $1 billion given to CSL for its old-tech plant that may be ready by 2026.