Moderna has signed a ten-year agreement with Lonza for large-scale manufacture of its vaccine candidate, mRNA-1273, against Covid-19 and other products in the future.

Under the deal, the companies will create manufacturing suites at Lonza’s facilities in the US and Switzerland to produce mRNA-1273.

With technology transfer scheduled to start next month, the partners plan to manufacture the first batches of the Covid-19 vaccine candidate at Lonza’s US sites in July.

The aim is to gradually establish production suites across Lonza facilities globally to enable the manufacture of material equivalent to up to one billion doses of the vaccine per year.

Lonza’s facilities are expected to support Moderna’s US manufacturing efforts, being boosted to prepare for further clinical development and commercialisation of mRNA-1273.

Lonza chairman and CEO ad interim Albert Baehny said: “The current pandemic illustrates the need to combine the best science with resilient supply chains that can scale.

How well do you really know your competitors?

Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.

Company Profile – free sample

Thank you!

Your download email will arrive shortly

Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample

We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form

By GlobalData
Visit our Privacy Policy for more information about our services, how we may use, process and share your personal data, including information of your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications. Our services are intended for corporate subscribers and you warrant that the email address submitted is your corporate email address.

“We are fully committed to leveraging our global network and experience in manufacturing technologies to support Moderna’s manufacture of mRNA-1273 as well as collaborating on future Moderna products.”

Manufacturing operations at Lonza US are partially covered by Moderna’s up to $483m contract with the US Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).

BARDA agreed to support late-stage clinical development programmes of mRNA-1273.

Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said: “This long-term strategic collaboration agreement will enable Moderna to accelerate, by ten-times, our manufacturing capacity for mRNA-1273 and additional products in Moderna’s large clinical portfolio.

“Lonza’s global presence and expertise are critical as we scale at unprecedented speed. Our common goal is to potentially enable manufacturing of up to one billion doses of mRNA-1273.”

Recently, Moderna filed an investigational new drug (IND) application to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Phase II and late stage studies of mRNA-1273, if the vaccine demonstrates safety data in the Phase I trial.