Elon Musk Heads To Germany To Assess Tesla Giga Berlin, Vaccine Printer Progress

Tesla Inc. TSLA Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk on Sunday said he would be visiting Germany later in the week to assess the progress on some of the automaker's projects in the country.

What Happened: In response to a Twitter user asking him about progress on the company's plans to make RNA microfactories, Musk said, "That [and] Giga Berlin are why I'm headed to Germany this week."

"Conversations with Harvard epidemiology confirmed that a high-speed RNA printer has potential [to] be helpful for vaccines [and] cures in many areas," the Tesla CEO added.

Why It Matters: Musk announced in July that Tesla was building RNA microfactories "as a side project" for CureVac BV CVAC, which could potentially help manufacture the latter's COVID-19 vaccine — currently under development.

The portable, automated messenger RNA, or mRNA, printers, which Musk refers to as RNA microfactories, can help speed up the production process for multiple such vaccines, Reuters noted earlier.

Several other coronavirus vaccine candidates, including those being developed by Moderna Inc. MRNA and Pfizer Inc. PFE, are also based on mRNA technology.

Drone footage suggests that Tesla's Berlin gigafactory, the electric vehicle maker's first manufacturing facility in Europe, is also undergoing rapid construction.

Price Action: Tesla shares closed 1.1% lower at $2,213.40 on Friday. CureVac shares closed 2.5% higher at $59.15 on the same day.

Photo courtesy: JD Lasica via Flickr