Moderna (NSDQ:MRNA) announced today that Laboratorios Farmacéuticos Rovi has agreed to make Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate in its Madrid, Spain facility. The contract for large-scale, commercial fill-finish manufacturing in Spain is but the latest that Moderna has secured as it moves forward with Phase 3 of the clinical trial for its COVID-19 vaccine candidate. Moderna in…
MIT researchers think they’ve found a way to get more particles through a syringe
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are touting a computational model that could prevent microparticle clogging during injections. Microparticles, which are about the size of a grain of sand, can be difficult to inject if they get clogged in a typical syringe. The research team at MIT developed this new model that determines…
Stevanato Group lauches modular, robotic pharma inspection system with AI
The Stevanto Group (Piombino Dese, Italy) announced today that it is launching a modular, robotic inspection system that incorporates AI with accrued machine learning capabilities. The company boasts that its Vision Robot Unit (VRU) is able to automatically and reliably inspect both cosmetic and particle properties without human intervention. The VRU has a patent-pending design…
U.S. investing $42m to boost BD syringe and needle production
HHS’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority is helping BD expand operations and manufacturing capacity in Nebraska to boost syringe and needle supplies for an eventual COVID-19 vaccine. Becton Dickinson (NYSE:BDX) said today that the total project will cost $70 million, with BARDA providing $42 million. The company expects the new capacity to be online within…
J&J to pay Emergent BioSolutions an initial $480m to make COVID-19 vaccine
Emergent BioSolutions announced a five-year manufacturing agreement with Johnson & Johnson’s (NYSE:JNJ) Janssen Pharmaceuticals for the parent company’s SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidate. Gaithersburg, Md.-based Emergent is set to provide contract development and manufacturing services to produce Johnson & Johnson’s Ad26.COV2-S vaccine candidate at scale over five years, with the deal valued at approximately $480 million for…
U.S. paying Novavax $1.6b to ramp up COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing
The U.S. Health and Human Services Dept. and Defense Dept. announced a joint agreement with Novavax (NSDQ:NVAX) worth $1.6 billion to scale the manufacturing of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate. Gaithersburg, Md.-based Novavax’s commercial-scale manufacturing is expected to produce 100 million doses of the investigational vaccine that would become available for use in clinical trials or,…
Moderna, Catalent partner on COVID-19 vaccine candidate manufacturing
Moderna (NSDQ:MRNA) and Catalent (NYSE:CTLT) today announced a collaboration for large-scale, commercial fill-finish manufacturing of Moderna’s mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine candidate (mRNA-1273) at Catalent’s biologics facility in Bloomington, Ind. Catalent will provide vial filling and packaging capacity, as well as additional staffing required for 24×7 manufacturing operations at the site to support production of an initial 100 million…
DOD launches $100m initiative to return COVID-19-related medtech, pharma manufacturing to the U.S.
The U.S. Department of Defense announced today that it will dedicate $100 million authorized by the CARES Act to boost medtech and pharmaceutical manufacturing in the U.S. Working with DOD, the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) launched a request for proposals from companies seeking financing under the Defense Production Act, which prioritizes government orders…
Real estate firms tout former Bristol-Myers Squibb facility as an ‘innovation campus’
Lincoln Equities Group and H.I.G. Realty Partners announced today that they’ve acquired the 1.2 million-square-foot life sciences campus that Bristol-Myers Squibb owned outside Princeton, N.J. Brokerage firm JLL is helping the real estate outfits market the 433-acre “Princeton West Innovation Campus” in Hopewell, N.J., to life sciences companies as a secure, multipurpose research and development…
Most Americans concerned about rising drugs costs amid COVID-19, Gallup says
A new study by West Health and Gallup revealed that Americans are concerned with potential negative developments resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly 90% of the 1,016 U.S. adults surveyed between May 11, 2020, and May 22, 2020, said they are “very” (55%) or “somewhat” (33%) concerned that the pharmaceutical industry will leverage the ongoing…