AstraZeneca made headlines last week when the biotech giant inked a massive $750 million contract to fast-track production of a COVID-19 vaccine from Oxford University.
Now, AstraZeneca has given the green light for another major production partnership as part of a Trump administration initiative to bring shots into US hands as quickly as possible.
AstraZeneca and Emergent BioSolutions have signed an $87 million contract to produce doses of the Oxford university's adenovirus-based COVID-19 shot for the US supply, the companies disclosed on Thursday.
Of course, the $87 million contract depends on whether the Food and Drug Administration approves AstraZeneca's vaccine for human use.
Emergent is an organization that has contract development and manufacturing links with many biotech and pharmaceutical companies, not to mention the federal government. Back in April, the biotech group signed a similar agreement valued at around $135 million with Johnson & Johnson.
Emergent will provide development services, transfer of technology, analytical trials, vaccine process and performance qualification under the terms of the deal, and will reserve certain large-scale production capacity for the entire year.
The contract comes after the group said it finalized supply chain deals last week for the production of 2 billion doses of its potential coronavirus vaccine, also known as AZD1222, which it is developing with Oxford University.
AstraZeneca has said the first indication of its vaccine's effectiveness will likely be available this month or the next. Experts have, however, warned that a safe and effective therapy could take at least 12 to 18 months from the onset of production.
Under the terms, Emergent said the vaccine will be massively produced at its Baltimore Bayview facility, which is capable of churning out up to hundreds of millions of doses per year.
Emergent will target to support Warp Speed hit its stated production goals of 100 million doses within 2020 and up to 300 million doses by end of 2021.
Shares of Emergent fell by around 1.3 percent during mid-afternoon sessions on Thursday, while the broader market as monitored by the S&P 500 weakened by around 4.8 percent.
Meanwhile, the British pharma giant has considered the "biggest pharmaceutical deal in history," Bloomberg's Max Nisen said: joining forces with US peer Gilead Sciences to build a $240 billion empire.
The goal will be to merge the "enviable" vaccine pipeline of AstraZeneca with the successful HIV drug business of Gilead, which has provided the firm with a consistent flow of money, and a solid balance sheet.
