BioNTech has opened its clinical-scale mRNA manufacturing and research facility at La Trobe University's Bundoora campus, nearly three years after it first announced the plan.
Treasurer Colin Brooks and Economic Development Minister Anthony Carbines opened the facility. It will develop experimental mRNA treatments and make candidates for clinical trials across the Asia-Pacific. Its first work will include potential treatments for cancer, heart disease, and neurological and autoinflammatory diseases, as well as potential new vaccines.
The facility is the centrepiece of BioNTech's partnership with the Victorian Government. The government hopes the wider mRNA industry will support up to 1200 jobs over the next decade.
For La Trobe, the opening is an early test of its $5 billion University City development. Chancellor John Brumby called it "exactly the kind of collaboration we envisaged for University City; one that takes great research beyond the laboratory and turns it into new treatments, new industries and new opportunities."
"That is a powerful example of what can happen when universities, industry and government work together," he said.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Theo Farrell said the project linked mRNA with the university's artificial intelligence work. That work is based at the Australian Centre for Artificial Intelligence in Medical Innovation (ACAMI), which launched in 2024, and runs on an NVIDIA DGX H200 supercomputer La Trobe switched on in June 2025.
"Some of the most exciting advances in medicine will come from bringing together biotechnology, mRNA and artificial intelligence – and that is now happening right here at La Trobe," Professor Farrell said.
Mr Carbines said: "Victoria is the only place in the world to host both global leaders in mRNA, leading the future of medical innovation."
Mr Brooks, also the Member for Bundoora, made the economic case: "Medical research is a massive driver of economic growth, investment and highly skilled jobs."
BioNTech chief operating officer Dr Sierk Poetting said: "Our partnership with the Victorian Government demonstrates how public-private collaboration can build lasting capabilities aimed at driving innovation in medicine."
BioNTech's partners include Pfizer, Bristol Myers Squibb, Genentech and Genmab.
