Modern (MRNA) – Get report and catalent (CTLT) – Get report unveiled a joint effort to free the Moderna coronavirus vaccine candidate this quarter.
Medication supply specialist Catalent will provide vial filling and packaging services for the coronavirus vaccine candidate mRNA-1273 from drug maker Moderna, the companies said.
The agreement also involves Catalent, Somerset, NJ, providing additional staff at Catalent’s biological facilities in Bloomington, Indiana.
Employees will support the production of an initial dose of 100 million of the drug to supply the US market starting in the third quarter of this year.
The companies said they are discussing the filling and finishing capacity for continuous production of hundreds of millions of doses.
Catalent will also provide clinical supply services from its Philadelphia facility to support Moderna’s Phase III clinical trial for the vaccine.
Moderna joins other companies working on coronavirus vaccines that are establishing manufacturing agreements to accelerate the distribution of treatments to the public, even before the drugs have completed their clinical trials, MarketWatch reports.
Moderna, Cambridge, Massachusetts, said last month that the results of the first human trial of its vaccine were positive. She said she would start a Phase III trial in July, sooner than previously expected.
Goldman Sachs analyst Salveen Richter raised its price target for the company to $ 105 from $ 63 on “encouraging” data from the vaccine, while affirming a buy rating. It raised the probability of vaccine success to 75% from 70%.
Moderna shares recently traded at $ 60.46, down 6.8%. The stock has more than doubled in the past three months.
Catalent’s shares recently traded at $ 72.83, an increase of 3.4%. The stock has increased 58% in the past three months.
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