Novartis in deal to make CureVac's COVID-19 vaccine candidate

In yet another collaboration by big pharm to help ensure production of vaccines to deal with the current pandemic, Swiss pharma giant Novartis (NOVN: VX) yesterday announced its signing an initial agreement to manufacture the mRNA and bulk drug product for the COVID-19 vaccine candidate CVnCoV from German biotech CureVac (Nasdaq: CVAC).

Preparations for the start of production, technology transfer and test runs are already underway. Following final agreement, Novartis plans to start production in the second quarter of 2021. First deliveries of the bulk drug product to CureVac are expected in the summer 2021.

Production will take place in a new high-tech production facility that was already under construction at the Novartis Kundl, Austria site. This will be adapted to the needs of messenger RNA vaccine production for CureVac’s CVnCoV, the manufacturing of which is highly complex. Novartis plans to produce up to 50 million doses of the mRNA and bulk drug product for the CureVac vaccine in 2021 and up to a further 200 million doses in 2022. The bulk drug product will then be delivered to CureVac for further processing and filling.