MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th July, 2020) Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca has signed a deal worth $174 million with biotech firm Emergent BioSolutions for the large-scale production of a candidate vaccine against COVID-19 developed by the University of Oxford, according to a press release on Monday.
The AZD1222 vaccine, which has performed well in clinical trials to date, was developed by researchers at the University of Oxford and licensed by AstraZeneca. The latest deal will help scale up contract development and manufacturing services (CDMO) for the candidate vaccine.
"As COVID-19 vaccine candidates progress through the pipeline, Emergent stands ready alongside leading innovators to rapidly deploy our CDMO services to help meet the substantial demand for a vaccine - anchored on our foundational expertise in development and manufacturing and propelled by our commitment to our mission - to protect and enhance life," Syed Husain, Emergent senior vice president, said in the press release.
The implementation of the agreement will take place at Emergent's facility in the US city of Baltimore. In June, AstraZeneca announced plans to produce and distribute as many as two billion doses of the candidate vaccine. The pharmaceutical firm is hoping to roll out the first doses by September.
The UK government has already concluded a deal to receive 100 million doses of the potential vaccine, which has proven to stimulate the production of antibodies and virus-fighting T-cells against COVID-19 throughout clinical trials.
