Cambridge, Mass.–headquartered Moderna (NSDQ:MRNA) will hire at least 155 new manufacturing employees for manufacturing jobs at its plant in Norwood, Mass. A $2.33 million tax incentive from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center helped bankroll the expansion. The investment will enable the company to double the size of its manufacturing site in Norwood, Mass., which became operational in 2018. With…
U.S. government buys 200M more doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine
Moderna (NSDQ:MRNA) announced today that the U.S. government purchased an additional 200 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine. The government’s purchase agreement with Moderna also includes the option to purchase other COVID-19 vaccine candidates to come out of the company’s pipeline. Cambridge, Mass.-based Moderna said in a news release that the purchase brings the U.S.…
J&J must reportedly throw out 60M COVID-19 vaccine doses from Emergent plant
Another large amount of doses of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine produced at an embattled manufacturing plant reportedly have to be thrown out. The New York Times reported that the FDA told J&J that about 60 million doses of the single-dose vaccine produced at Emergent BioSolutions’ Baltimore plant can’t be used because of possible contamination.…
U.S. to buy nearly 2 million courses of Merck’s COVID-19 antiviral treatment
Merck (NYSE:MRK) announced today that it agreed to supply the U.S. government with its molnupiravir (MK-4482) for treating COVID-19. Molnupiravir, developed through a collaboration between Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, is currently under evaluation in a Phase 3 clinical trial for the treatment of non-hospitalized patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 infection and at least one risk factor…
Biden administration wants to boost funding for new pharma manufacturing processes
The Biden administration today released findings from 100-day supply chain assessments, determining the need to boost pharmaceutical manufacturing. According to a fact sheet, the administration plans to take immediate action to “address vulnerabilities and strengthen resilience” with its effort to take on near-term supply chain disruptions for four products: semiconductor manufacturing and advanced packaging; large…
AstraZeneca could enlist Catalent to produce COVID-19 vaccines
After stopping the production of its COVID-19 vaccine at an Emergent Biosolutions facility in Baltimore, AstraZeneca (LON:AZN) is in negotiations with Catalent (NYSE:CTLT) to shift production to one of its plants in nearby Harmans, Md. FDA has yet to authorize the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, although it has won full approval in Australia and Brazil and…
Avantor acquires RIM Bio to bolster presence in Asia
The chemicals and materials specialist Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) has acquired RIM Bio, a China-based manufacturer of single-use bioprocess bags and assemblies for biopharmaceutical applications. The acquisition gives Avantor its first single-use production facility in Asia and doubles its global single-use cleanroom space. Avantor also has single-use manufacturing facilities in the Americas and Europe. The RIM Bio…
Exelead makes first precursor batch of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine
Pharma industry contract manufacturer Exelead recently announced that it has delivered its first precursor batch of Prizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine, produced at its recently expanded facility in Indianapolis. Exelead plans to add 50 jobs to help it meet COVID-19 vaccine demand. “We are extremely proud to be part of the manufacture of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine,…
BREAKING: Biden administration calls for waiving IP protections for COVID-19 vaccines
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai announced this afternoon that the Biden administration supports waiving IP protections for COVID-19 vaccines. “This is a global health crisis, and the extraordinary circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic call for extraordinary measures,” Tai said in the statement. Tai said the U.S. will actively participate in World Trade Organization text-based negotiations…
Moderna pledges to manufacture up to 3B COVID-19 vaccine doses in 2022
Moderna (NSDQ:MRNA) announced today that it committed funds to increase its COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing capacity to up to 3 billion doses for 2022. Cambridge, Mass.-based Moderna’s new funding commitments would increase supply at its owned and partnered manufacturing facilities up to that 3 billion-dose capacity, depending upon the mix between the authorized Moderna COVID-19 vaccine…