Texas A&M University has been selected to mass-produce one of the selected coronavirus vaccine candidates as part of the Trump administration’s effort to make the vaccine available to Americans in record time.
A university center opened three years ago to develop and manufacture drugs to combat bioterrorism threats and future pandemics, will receive approximately $ 265 million in federal money to produce tens of millions of doses of the vaccine under a plan announced Monday by President Donald Trump. .
“We have been preparing for this since we obtained federal authority to build the center,” said John Sharp, chancellor of the Texas A&M System. “We are pleased to be part of the effort to save lives and protect the country.”
Mass production of the Texas A&M vaccine, conducted by Novavax Inc., would likely begin in early 2021 if ongoing trials show that the company’s candidate is safe and effective. The candidate is one of five selected for Operation Warp Speed, the administration’s gigantic project to develop a vaccine by the end of the year, and then reach large numbers in early 2021.
The vaccine would be produced at the Texas A&M Center for Advanced Development and Manufacturing Innovation. The center is one of three national biosafety centers, the others are located in Maryland and North Carolina, created by a 2012 award from the US Department of Health and Human Services.
The A&M center opened in 2017 and hired FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies to carry out the work and production of drugs. All federal money flows through Texas A&M.
