Victoria to Lead Clinical Trials of Australia’s First Locally Made mRNA Vaccine

Victorian Acting Premier James Merlino speaks to the media at a press conference in Melbourne, Australia, on June 18, 2021. Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

Australia’s first locally developed mRNA COVID-19 vaccine has been created in Victoria and will begin phase 1 trials within months.

Acting Victorian Premier James Merlino announced on Sunday that the state government would invest $5 million into the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (MIPS) to manufacture doses of mRNA vaccine candidates.