Contract manufacturer of medicines Catalent Inc.
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expands its production in the United States of the Covid-19 vaccine from Moderna Inc.,
MRNA -0.60%
a development that could ensure the U.S. has a wide supply as vaccinations increase.
Catalent has reached an agreement with Moderna that will increase the speed of vaccine production at the contract manufacturer’s plant in Bloomington, Ind., This month at about 400 vials per minute, according to people familiar with the matter.
Catalent will change the manufacture of the shot to a faster production line of two slower ones. The new doses will be ready for shipment starting next month, according to people, and the updated plant will be able to fill an additional 80 million vials a year.
The expansion will help Moderna reach its goal of delivering an additional 100 million doses to the U.S. by the end of May and an additional 100 million doses by the end of July.
Production in the U.S. of several licensed vaccines has increased in speed in recent weeks as manufacturers have expanded production lines and taken other steps to increase production.
The increases come as governors, at the urging of President Biden, expand eligibility for adult shootings.
Demand could increase further if vaccines against Covid-19 work safely during testing in children, paving the way for health authorities to make shots available to young people.
Modern declined to comment.
Catalent, of Somerset, New Jersey, is one of the largest manufacturers of contracted drugs in the world and among a harvest of companies that play key roles in the manufacture of Covid-19 vaccines.
Last month, Catalent said it would expand production at Johnson & Johnson‘s
shot at his plant in Italy.
Catalent helps Moderna introduce its vaccine into vials for shipment, a final production stage known as fill-finish.
In his first early speech in the nation, President Biden called on states to expand access to the Covid-19 vaccine and that all adults in the United States could be eligible before May 1st. Photo: Mandel Ngan / AFP (Video from 11/03/20)
The new agreement is based on Catalent’s agreement last June to help produce Moderna’s vaccine. As part of the expansion, Catalent is dedicating a high-speed production line to its Indiana plant to make filling finishes.
The step is to fill the vials with vaccines, cover the vials and prepare the product for shipment.
With production updates, Catalent expects to produce nearly a billion doses of Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine annually by 2023.
Write to Jared S. Hopkins at [email protected]
Corrections and amplifications
Catalent increases the speed at which it makes the Moderna vaccine by moving production to a single, faster production line of two slower ones. An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Catalent would double vaccine production. (Corrected on April 6.)
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