Contract Manufacturing

As Pfizer and its German biotech partner BioNTech progress with a Phase 3 COVID-19 vaccine candidate, the companies are preparing for the prospect of delivering an approved vaccine at scale. Pfizer anticipates that it could produce up to 100 million doses in the remainder of 2020 and an additional 1.3 billion next year. The companies…

Aphena Pharma Solutions recently announced that it is spending $21 million to expand its Solid Dose Division in Cookeville, Tenn Aphena Pharma has purchased a 500,000 ft2 property, purpose-built for FDA manufacturing and packaging operations. Renovations have already started to turn the site into a state-of-the-art pharmaceutical packaging and distribution facility that will also serve…

The Trump administration today released a plan to distribute an eventual COVID-19 vaccine free of charge, initially to targeted groups and more broadly as supply increases. The government is planning a phased distribution using a contract awarded to McKesson in August. The first recipients could include: Healthcare personnel likely to be exposed to or treat people…

Inovio Pharmaceuticals (NSDQ:INO) announced that Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) will manufacture its COVID-19 vaccine candidate. Plymouth Meeting, Pa.-based Inovio said in a news release yesterday that Thermo Fisher signed a letter of intent to manufacture the INO-4800 COVID-19 vaccine candidate, joining a consortium of third-party manufacturers that aim to produce 100 million doses of Inovio’s vaccine by 2021,…

Specialty glass manufacturer Schott announced today that it is delivering vials to three out of every four COVID-19 vaccine projects undergoing phase I, II, and III testing , according to Global Data. The Mainz, Germany-based company has delivered millions of glass vials to SARS-CoV-2 programs, including partners of the Trump administration’s Operation Warp Speed vaccine…

Tiny vaccine delivery patches could solve logistical challenges, but they face manufacturing hurdles. Here’s how Vaxxas is trying to overcome them. Merck (NYSE:MRK) and Vaxxas announced earlier this year that the pharmaceutical giant was using Vaxxas’ High Density Microarray Patch (HD-MAP) platform as a delivery platform for a vaccine candidate. Vaxxas did not disclose what…

Private equity outfit Kohlberg & Co. announced today that it has agreed to acquire a majority stake in pharma supply chain outsourcer PCI Pharma Services. Abu Dhabi-based sovereign investor Mubadala Investment is also making a significant investment in Philadelphia-based PCI. Financial terms of the deal were not disclsoed. Private markets investment manager Partners Group, previously…

The U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Defense Dept. (DoD) announced a COVID-19 vaccine distribution deal with McKesson. Under Operation Warp Speed, McKesson will become a central distributor of future COVID-19 vaccines and related supplies needed to administer the pandemic vaccinations, according to a news release. The Centers for Disease Control and…

Shares of Eastman Kodak (NYSE: KODK) were down more than 30% near the close of trading today after a tweet from the U.S. International Development Finance Corp. said a $765 million loan for domestic pharmaceutical manufacturing is on hold.  The Aug. 7 tweet said: “On July 28, we signed a Letter of Interest with Eastman…

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) announced today that it entered into a multi-year agreement with Gilead Sciences (NSDQ:GILD) to manufacture and supply its antiviral remdesivir treatment. The investigational antiviral remdesivir will be manufactured by Pfizer under the agreement as the company becomes one of the multiple external manufacturing organizations supporting efforts to scale up the supply of the investigational…