GSK plans to produce one billion pandemic vaccine adjuvant doses

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is set to produce one billion doses of its pandemic vaccine adjuvant system next year to support adjuvanted Covid-19 vaccine candidates development.

The news comes after the company performed global manufacturing review and decided to invest for expanded manufacturing capacity.

In the last flu pandemic, GSK pandemic adjuvant decreased the amount of vaccine protein needed per dose, facilitating the production of more vaccine doses.

Also, an adjuvant boosts the immune response and has demonstrated the ability to generate a stronger and longer-lasting immunity against infections, noted the company.

The company is working on providing its pandemic adjuvant technology to partners developing potential Covid-19 vaccines that can be used with an adjuvant. So far, GSK formed multiple alliances to develop vaccines, with discussions for additional partnerships underway.

The company intends to manufacture, fill and finish adjuvant for Covid-19 vaccines at sites in the UK, US, Canada and Europe.

GSK Global Vaccines president Roger Connor said: “We believe that our innovative pandemic adjuvant technology has the potential to help improve the efficacy and scale-up of multiple Covid-19 vaccines.

“With this significant expansion in our manufacturing capacity, we can help deliver up to one billion doses of adjuvanted vaccines through 2021, helping protect many more people and support the global effort to fight Covid-19.”

In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, which lacks approved vaccines and therapies, GSK has started producing the adjuvant at risk. The company is in talks with governments and global institutions for funding to manufacture and supply the adjuvant.

Last month, GSK signed a letter of intent for a partnership with Sanofi to develop an adjuvanted vaccine for Covid-19. Sanofi will provide its S-protein Covid-19 antigen based on recombinant DNA technology while GSK will provide its pandemic vaccine adjuvant technology.