Moderna to relocate its UK HQ to London's Tribeca
Tribeca buildings King's Cross Knowledge Centre in London.
US biotech Moderna has firmed up its commitment to the UK by taking a lease on a new headquarters at the Tribeca campus, right at the heart of the King's Cross Knowledge Quarter (KQ) in London.
The mRNA medicine specialist has taken a lease on a 4,206 sq ft unit in The Reflector building, which should be ready for occupancy by the end of April. The company's current HQ is located at 123 Victoria Street in London.
Anchored by the London BioScience Innovation Centre (LBIC) and the Francis Crick Institute, Tribeca – London's first purpose-built life sciences campus with five main buildings – has attracted a cluster of other biopharma groups, including Flagship Pioneering, AI-powered vaccine developer Baseimmune, and gene-silencing therapeutics developer Laverock Therapeutics.
"The UK is a key market for Moderna and expanding our footprint with space at Tribeca marks another step in our long-term commitment to the country's vibrant life sciences ecosystem," said Darius Hughes, UK general manager at Moderna.
"With Tribeca positioned at the heart of London's Knowledge Quarter, it puts us in close proximity to many of the country's leading scientific and research institutions, making it a great environment for our continued growth and the further development of our mRNA platform."
Tribeca is becoming a focal point for the KQ, which extends for around three square miles and has one of the highest densities of scientific and academic organisations in the world. It is also a hub for AI-powered drug discovery in the UK, with companies like Novo, GSK, and Boehringer Ingelheim setting up units to tap into local expertise like Google DeepMind and the Alan Turing Institute.
Moderna has a close connection with the UK, built around a 10-year, £1 billion strategic partnership with the UK government and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) to build domestic mRNA manufacturing resilience, boost research, and prepare for future pandemics.
Last year, the company opened the £150 million Moderna Innovation and Technology Centre (MITC) at the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire, which has the potential to produce up to 250 million doses of mRNA vaccines per year if there is a pandemic and is also a hub for Moderna's R&D operations in the UK.
News of the HQ relocation came shortly after Moderna reported a big rise in third-quarter revenues to $1.3 billion, primarily driven by higher COVID vaccine sales in international markets.
The company has also recently secured its first regulatory approvals for seasonal flu vaccine mFlusiva and a combination flu/covid shot, mCombriax, and is in late-stage clinical testing for a melanoma vaccine partnered with MSD.
