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After Biontech and Pfizer, Moderna Therapeutics has now performed convincingly with its vaccine as well. The answers to the most important questions.
Lonza in Visp will also produce the Moderna vaccine and the facilities will be set up for this purpose.
In the development of vaccines against Sars-CoV-2, it seems that it continues to go according to the script. Unsurprisingly, US biotech company Moderna Therapeutics released initial information from its final phase III study on Monday as the second potential supplier of a vaccine. At 94.5% effective, the company’s vaccine performed even better than the product of its two competitors Biontech and Pfizer, which had reported 90% a week earlier.
The first cans go exclusively to the USA.
Furthermore, this vaccine is evidently well tolerated. Moderna wrote in a press release that there were “no major safety concerns” in this study with a total of 30,000 test subjects in the US As in the case of Biontech and Pfizer, the first cans will be delivered this year, provided that the approval authorities also give this product the green light in the coming weeks as expected. Moderna is assuming a total of 20 million doses, which, given the double administration required per patient, would be enough to vaccinate the first 10 million people. The first deliveries are destined exclusively for the US, which had agreed to subsidize the research and production of the vaccine with a total of up to $ 2.48 billion as part of the so-called Warp Speed Initiative.
German biotech company Biontech and its US partner Pfizer, meanwhile, have announced the prospect of bringing up to 50 million first doses of their vaccine to market this year. In the next year it should amount to 1.3 billion. Moderna has set its expectations somewhat lower for 2021 and continues to expect to supply the world with between 500 million and 1 billion cans.
I’m still looking for staff in Visp
Unlike Biontech, the company has not partnered with a powerful pharmaceutical company, but relies on contract manufacturers. The Basel-based Lonza Group will support Moderna in the manufacture of the active ingredient. At its US plant in Portsmouth (New Hampshire), it has already installed a plant with around 70 employees for the annual production of 100 million cans. Three more systems, each with the same capacity, are currently being built at Lonza’s main Valais plant in Visp. According to a company spokeswoman, they should start operating before the end of this year, although the right specialists are still being sought for their operation. A total of 250 employees are required for production at Visp.
Lonza’s Portsmouth facility, along with a Moderna-operated manufacturing facility in Norwood, Massachusetts to manufacture the vaccine, will serve the US market. The active ingredient in Visp, which is potentially sufficient for up to 400 million doses a year, is intended for vaccinations in Europe and the rest of the world, according to Lonza. A small part should also be used for Switzerland. The Federal Office of Public Health signed a contract with Moderna in August for the receipt of 4.5 million doses. Last week, Switzerland also agreed with Pfizer and Biontech to purchase 3 million cans.
When it comes to finished vaccine filling and packaging, Moderna has secured the support of two other partner companies. In the USA this task will be carried out by the American contractor Catalent and in Europe by the Spanish company Laboratorios Farmacéuticos Rovi, whose production plant is located near Madrid. This means that the active principle produced by Lonza has to be brought to Spain by refrigerated truck.
Also suitable for refrigerator
Since the relevant processes are well established in the industry, this should not be a problem. Transportation of vaccines from bottling plants to customers in individual countries is seen as a significantly greater logistical challenge. The problem with the Biontech and Pfizer vaccine is that it must be permanently stored at -70 degrees, a temperature for which even in industrialized countries the smallest medical practices and hospitals are not set up. Moderna’s vaccine is also based on the new so-called messenger RNA, but the company emphasizes that it can survive in a temperature of -20 degrees (with a shelf life of six months). In addition, previous research has shown that it remains stable for 30 days even at a temperature of 2 to 8 degrees. This would allow for short-term storage in the refrigerator and would likely also allow decentralized use in doctor’s offices or pharmacies.
It is not yet clear how much Moderna will charge for individual doses of vaccine. Last August, the company had talked about charging between $ 32 and $ 37 per dose. This is well above the $ 20 that Biontech and Pfizer have priced their vaccine. Johnson & Johnson, the world’s largest healthcare group, which is also among the first in the race for the first Covid-19 vaccines, but has not yet provided information on the course of its phase III study, should be ready to settle for $ 10 per dose restrict.
At an investor conference in October, Lonza calculated the expected manufacturing sales of the active ingredient for Moderna at CHF 110 million next year. At the same time, management emphasized that it expected a lower profit margin than in its other activities for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. However, the company’s shares showed a firmer trend on Monday. Apparently the joy of the early availability of a second vaccine also overwhelmed Lonza shareholders.
