AstraZeneca had signed an agreement with the United States to produce 300 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine (representative)
Emergent BioSolutions announced Thursday that it has signed an $ 87 million agreement to manufacture the COVID-19 experimental vaccine from AstraZeneca Plc in the United States, strengthening the British drug manufacturer’s efforts to bring the vaccine to market.
The deal comes weeks after the U.S. pledged up to $ 1.2 billion to secure 300 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is among the first to move into mid-term trials.
AstraZeneca said the first indication of the effectiveness of its vaccine would likely be available in June or July. However, experts have warned that a safe and effective vaccine could take at least 12 to 18 months from the start of development.
Under the agreement, Emergent has stated that large-scale manufacturing of the vaccine will take place at its plant in Baltimore Bayview, which has the capacity to produce up to hundreds of millions of doses per year.
Emergent, which has also signed an agreement with Johnson & Johnson to manufacture its COVID-19 vaccine, said it would reserve part of its large-scale manufacturing capacity until 2020 for AstraZeneca.
Last week, the United States government granted $ 628 million to Emergent as the country seeks to secure its manufacturing capacity as part of its Operation Warp Speed program.
(With the exception of the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
