FRANKFURT, May 29 (Reuters) - COVID-19 vaccine maker

BioNTech has secured up to $145 million in funding

from a global coalition against infectious diseases to build a

production network in Africa for shots based on cutting-edge

messenger-RNA (mRNA) technology.

BioNTech and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness

Innovations (CEPI) said in a joint statement on Wednesday that

the financial support was part of an expanded partnership as the

German biotech firm builds an mRNA vaccine factory site in

Rwanda's capital Kigali.

A future African network could produce affordable vaccines

to fight malaria, mpox, tuberculosis or other health threats,

they added.

"BioNTech and CEPI intend to work jointly to rapidly respond

to outbreaks on the African continent caused by known viral

threats, or an as-yet-unknown pathogen with epidemic or pandemic

potential," they said.

The funds pledged by CEPI come on top of up to $90 million

that the coalition granted BioNTech in September to support the

development of mpox vaccine candidates.

BioNTech said in December it aimed to start production at

the modular mRNA vaccine factory site in Rwanda in 2025, the

first foreign company mRNA vaccine manufacturing site on the

continent.

It said at the time it had fully funded the facility,

committing a total of $150 million.

The company, which developed the Western world's most widely

used COVID-19 shot with U.S. partner Pfizer ( PFE ), in 2022 laid out an

initial plan to enable African countries to produce its shots

under BioNTech's supervision.

Rival Moderna ( MRNA ) in April paused its plans to build a

vaccine manufacturing facility in Kenya, following a

post-pandemic decline in demand for COVID-19 vaccines.