Moderna Ramps Up Vaccine Manufacturing in U.S. and Europe
- Posted by ISPE Boston
- On May 5, 2021
Moderna is making new funding commitments to increase supply at its owned and partnered manufacturing facilities, which it expects will increase global 2022 capacity to up to 3 billion doses of its COVID-19 vaccine. The company will use its cash balance to fund these investments.
These investments allow for a doubling of drug substance manufacturing at Lonza’s Switzerland-based facility, a more than doubling of formulation, fill and finish and drug substance manufacturing at Rovi’s Spain-based facility, as well as a 50% increase of drug substance at Moderna’s facilities in the U.S. When completed, the investments will also result in an increase in safety stock of raw materials and finished product used to deliver committed volumes. The company will begin making investments at its owned and partnered manufacturing facilities in 2021, with increased production from these investments expected to ramp up in late 2021 and early 2022. Today, the Company also raised its 2021 manufacturing supply forecast to between 800 million to 1 billion doses. The increases announced today are in addition to the recently announced increases in formulation, fill and finish in the U.S. with Catalent and Sanofi. In addition, Moderna is in advanced negotiations for other agreements.
Moderna believes that this investment in increased supply is necessary due to an expected significant need for booster vaccinations in 2022 and beyond. The Company highlighted published studies predicting that waning immunity will impact vaccine efficacy within 12 months, and published studies showing variants of concern have lower starting neutralizing antibody titers and may lead to breakthrough infections among those already infected or vaccinated, compounding the potential need for variant boosters in the coming years. (Source: Moderna Website, 29 April, 2021)
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