COVID-19 Update

Contract manufacturers play a key role in the production of lipid nanoparticles for RNA vaccines.

FDA has issued an emergency use authorization for sotrovimab, an investigational monoclonal antibody therapy, for the treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19.

Bio/pharmaceutical manufacturers have made a good first step toward global vaccination through pledging doses at no- to low-profit rates.

In the face of a growing clamor for greater worldwide access to COVID-19 vaccines, biopharma companies are promising to expand distribution of free and low-cost preventives to curb the pandemic globally.

Moderna and Aldevron have expanded their existing collaboration to support Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine program as well as additional clinical programs in Moderna’s pipeline.

MilliporeSigma has launched SAFC, a high-purity synthetic cholesterol product, nine months ahead of schedule to meet the lipid demands for COVID-19 messenger RNA therapeutics.

In the study, which enrolled 3700 US participants ages 12 to less than 18 years, no cases of COVID-19 were found in participants who had received two doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.

The agency’s human medicines committee concluded sotrovimab can be used to treat COVID-19 in adults and adolescents who do not require supplemental oxygen therapy and are at risk for severe COVID-19.

Samsung Biologics plans to support the production of hundreds of millions of doses of Moderna’s vaccine to supply to markets outside of the United States beginning in the third quarter of 2021.

The agency is authorizing extending the time undiluted, thawed vaccine vials can be stored in the refrigerator to one month.

Pfizer and BioNTech have entered into a new agreement with the European Commission to supply 900 million doses of Comirnaty to the European Union with an option to request up to 900 million additional doses.

The agency’s human medicines committee has recommended extending the approved storage period of unopened thawed vials at 2–8 0C from five days to 31 days.

Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline reported that their adjuvanted recombinant COVID-19 vaccine candidate demonstrated strong immune responses across all adult age groups in a Phase II trial.

Adolescents are now eligible for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-29 vaccine under expanded EUA.

Pfizer and BioNTech have initiated a rolling submission of a biologics license application to FDA for the approval of their COVID-19 vaccine in individuals 16 years of age and older.

The European Medicines Agency has announced the commencement of an evaluation for the extension of use of Comirnaty, Pfizer/BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine, to include young people aged 12 to 15 years.

The European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use has started a rolling review of Vero Cell, an inactivated COVID-19 vaccine developed by Sinovac Life Sciences.

Combating COVID-19 is bolstering efforts to limit patent protections on innovative medicines and vaccines.

Moderna will double the space at its Moderna Technology Center in Norwood, MA, to transform it from a production and lab space into an industrial technology center.

Moderna has entered into an agreement with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance to supply up to 500 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine to the 92 Gavi COVAX Advance Market Commitment low- and middle-income countries.

Under the terms of the contract, Meissner will expand its Camarillo, Calif., manufacturing site by adding additional cleanroom manufacturing space, executing advanced inventory management systems, and adding support areas to supplement capacity.

As face masks start to come off, bio/pharma’s COVID-19 battle goes on.

Moderna’s investments will double the formulation fill/finish and drug substance manufacturing of its vaccine to up to three billion doses in 2022 at various manufacturing sites.

Avantor plans to increase its single-use manufacturing footprint by 30% and double its cleanroom space in the US and Europe.

Merck has entered into non-exclusive voluntary licensing agreements with five Indian generic drug manufacturers for the development of molnupiravir, an investigational, oral antiviral agent for the treatment of non-hospitalized patients with confirmed COVID-19.

With a $5 million grant from DARPA, DNA Script and Moderna will develop a prototype for rapid mobile manufacturing of vaccines and therapeutics as part of the DARPA’s Nucleic Acids On-Demand World-Wide program.

Sanofi will perform the fill/finish of up to 200 million doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine at its Ridgefield, NJ, facility starting in September 2021.

The decision comes from the US CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices following the evaluation of data showing a rare adverse event involving blood clots in combination with low platelet counts within approximately one to two weeks following vaccination.

Lipid production at Evonik’s Hanau, Germany, site was set up in eight weeks and met high-quality requirements, accelerating delivery time, which was originally set for mid-2021.

A FDA report cites multiple ongoing violations that undermine assurance of quality in products from this plant and the need for a continuing “pause” in production.