Moderna Inc., one of the leading pharmaceutical giants among U.S. companies creating new coronavirus vaccines, entered into a deal with Lonza Group AG to manufacture 1 billion doses a year.
The companies reported a 10-year global partnership that will increase the production of the proposed vaccine by the Swiss chemical and pharmaceutical firm, based on the latest technology using a genetic material called mRNA. The two companies intend to roll out the first batches in the US in July.
"We are planning to start producing coronavirus vaccine with Lonza as early as July," chief executive officer Stephane Bancel told CNBC on Friday, adding that his team is ready to begin dosing as soon as they get the approval.
The deal comes at a time when drug companies are pausing lab testing for other areas of the disease while they concentrate on researching new coronavirus therapies.
The experimental drug called the mRNA-1273 is being studied by the US National Institutes of Health, with Moderna planning to launch mid-stage tests in the second quarter this year.
Under the 10-year agreement, the two pharmas plan to make up to one billion doses per year as technology transfer is estimated to commence in June, and the first batches of the drug are anticipated to be made in Lonza US this coming July.
Shares of Moderna Inc. rose 2.5 percent in early morning session Friday after it disclosed the deal with Lonza Group AG for its COVID-19 drug as well as its other experimental vaccines. The companies plan to set up manufacturing plants in Switzerland, where Lonza is headquartered.
The arrangement is one of the collaborations that drugmakers are entering into as they try to provide protection against Covid-19. AstraZeneca Plc announced on Thursday a deal to produce an experimental coronavirus antidote produced by Oxford University, promising production capacity for 100 million doses by year end.
Moderna's proposed drug became the first candidate to enter a human Phase 1 trial in March, and full results were not published. Bancel stated that details about safety from the Phase 1 trial "looks promising."
Moderna's experimental vaccine induces the human body's own cells to create virus-like proteins that stimulate an immune reaction and prepare for an actual infection.
The pandemic, which sickened over 3.2 million people around the world and claimed the lives of nearly 232,000, set off drug companies scrambling to discover an antidote. Earlier this month, Moderna secured a US government agency funding of $483 million to fast-track the production of the coronavirus vaccine.
