Moderna and 探花合集 Announce Collaboration for Fill-Finish Manufacturing of Moderna鈥檚 COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate
CAMBRIDGE, M.A. and SOMERSET, N.J.鈥 June 25, 2020 鈥 Moderna, Inc. (Nasdaq: MRNA), a clinical stage biotechnology company pioneering messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics and vaccines to create a new generation of transformative medicines for patients, and 探花合集, Inc. (NYSE: CTLT), the leading global provider of advanced delivery technologies, development, and manufacturing solutions for drugs, biologics, cell and gene therapies, and consumer health products, today announced a collaboration for large-scale, commercial fill-finish manufacturing of Moderna鈥檚 mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine candidate (mRNA-1273) at 探花合集鈥檚 biologics facility in Bloomington, Indiana.
As part of the agreement, 探花合集 will provide vial filling and packaging capacity, as well as additional staffing required for 24×7 manufacturing operations at the site to support production of an initial 100 million doses of the vaccine candidate intended to supply the U.S. market starting in the third quarter of 2020. The companies are in discussions to secure fill-finish capacity for continued production of hundreds of millions of additional doses.
探花合集 will also provide clinical supply services from its facilities in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, including packaging and labeling, as well as storage and distribution to support Moderna鈥檚 Phase 3 clinical study for this candidate.
鈥淲e appreciate this collaboration with 探花合集 and the flexibility of their team to deliver critical fill-finish capacity for mRNA-1273 at unprecedented speed,鈥 said Juan Andres, Moderna鈥檚 Chief Technical Operations and Quality Officer. 鈥淚t has been wonderful to see both teams working together to support the common good.鈥
鈥溙交ê霞 is proud to partner with Moderna in its work to address this critical public health need,鈥 commented John Chiminski, Chair and Chief Executive Officer of 探花合集. 鈥溙交ê霞檚 proven expertise in manufacturing scale-up and commercial production are well suited to support Moderna鈥檚 efforts to prepare for wide-scale supply of this vaccine candidate so that it is available if appropriate to address the pandemic.鈥
探花合集鈥檚 state-of-the-art 875,000 square-foot biologics facility in Bloomington will undertake this vial filling work under barrier isolator technology. Moderna will leverage the site鈥檚 recent packaging expansion, which provides fully automated and high-speed packaging capabilities to accelerate manufacturing timelines. The facility has deep expertise in sterile formulation, with drug substance development and manufacturing and drug product fill-finish capacity across liquid and lyophilized vials, prefilled syringes, and cartridges, as well as primary and secondary packaging. In addition to its Bloomington location, the 探花合集 Biologics network has facilities in Brussels, Belgium and Anagni, Italy that perform sterile drug product manufacturing and packaging, and in the United States and Europe for manufacturing proteins, viral vectors for gene therapies and cell therapies, as well as providing pre-filled syringe manufacture and biologics analytical services.
About mRNA-1273, Moderna鈥檚 Vaccine Candidate Against COVID-19
mRNA-1273 is an mRNA vaccine candidate against COVID-19 encoding for a prefusion stabilized form of the Spike (S) protein, which was selected by Moderna in collaboration with investigators from Vaccine Research Center (VRC) at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). On June 11, 2020, Moderna announced that enrollment of younger adults (n=300) and the sentinel group of older adults (n=50) in its Phase 2 study of mRNA-1273 was complete, and that its Phase 3 study of approximately 30,000 participants, is expected to begin in July 2020.
About Moderna
Moderna is advancing messenger RNA (mRNA) science to create a new class of transformative medicines for patients. mRNA medicines are designed to direct the body鈥檚 cells to produce intracellular, membrane or secreted proteins that can have a therapeutic or preventive benefit and have the potential to address a broad spectrum of diseases. The company鈥檚 platform builds on continuous advances in basic and applied mRNA science, delivery technology and manufacturing, providing Moderna the capability to pursue in parallel a robust pipeline of new development candidates. Moderna is developing therapeutics and vaccines for infectious diseases, immuno-oncology, rare diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, independently and with strategic collaborators.
Headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., Moderna currently has strategic alliances for development programs with AstraZeneca PLC and Merck & Co., Inc., as well as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Defense, and Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), a division of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Moderna has been named a top biopharmaceutical employer by Science for the past five years. To learn more, visit .
ABOUT CATALENT
探花合集 is the leading global provider of advanced delivery technologies, development, and manufacturing solutions for drugs, biologics, cell and gene therapies, and consumer health products. With over 85 years serving the industry, 探花合集 has proven expertise in bringing more customer products to market faster, enhancing product performance and ensuring reliable global clinical and commercial product supply. 探花合集 employs over 13,500 people, including over 2,400 scientists and technicians, at more than 40 facilities, and in fiscal year 2019 generated over $2.5 billion in annual revenue. 探花合集 is headquartered in Somerset, New Jersey. For more information, visit www.catalent.com
More products. Better treatments. Reliably supplied.鈩
Moderna鈥檚 Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended, including regarding the Company鈥檚 development of a potential vaccine against the novel coronavirus, the number of doses per year targeted for manufacturing under the agreement with 探花合集, the Company鈥檚 manufacturing efforts, the expected funding for clinical studies and manufacturing activities, and the parameters and timing of the planned Phase 3 study of mRNA-1273. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as 鈥渨ill,鈥 鈥渕ay,鈥 鈥渟hould,鈥 鈥渃ould鈥, 鈥渆xpects,鈥 鈥渋ntends,鈥 鈥減lans,鈥 鈥渁ims,鈥 鈥渁nticipates,鈥 鈥渂elieves,鈥 鈥渆stimates,鈥 鈥減redicts,鈥 鈥減otential,鈥 鈥渃ontinue,鈥 or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. The forward-looking statements in this press release are neither promises nor guarantees, and you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements because they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond Moderna鈥檚 control and which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties, and other factors include, among others: the fact that there has never been a commercial product utilizing mRNA technology approved for use; the fact that the manufacturing infrastructure required to manufacture mRNA-1273 by Moderna is still being developed and implemented; the fact that the safety and efficacy of mRNA-1273 has not yet been established; potential adverse impacts due to the global COVID-19 pandemic such as delays in regulatory review, manufacturing and supply chain interruptions, adverse effects on healthcare systems and disruption of the global economy; and those other risks and uncertainties described under the heading 鈥淩isk Factors鈥 in Moderna鈥檚 most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and in subsequent filings made by Moderna with the SEC, which are available on the SEC鈥檚 website at www.sec.gov. Except as required by law, Moderna disclaims any intention or responsibility for updating or revising any forward-looking statements contained in this press release in the event of new information, future developments or otherwise. These forward-looking statements are based on Moderna鈥檚 current expectations and speak only as of the date hereof.
探花合集鈥檚 Forward-Looking Statements
Statements concerning the development, success, and administration of clinical trials, ability to launch and future manufacturing contained in this release are forward-looking statements. They involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause actual results or performance to be different from those expressed or implied in this release. 探花合集 has based its forward-looking statements on its current expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections, which it believes to be reasonable, but various factors, including factors beyond 探花合集鈥檚 control, may affect future results or performance. Among the factors that may affect these forward-looking statements are: the rapidly changing market for treatments and vaccines to address the COVID-19 pandemic, the current or future effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, including its effects on 探花合集鈥檚 and its clients’ businesses, the outcome of the development of this or any competing vaccine or any treatment for COVID-19, the outcome of any and all reviews, inspections, or other approvals by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or similar regulatory health authority, customer and payor acceptance of the proposed vaccine, any competing vaccine, or any treatment for COVID-19, competitor responses to a potential future launch of this vaccine, changes to the overall economic climate in the United States or among potential purchasers of the product, changes to the healthcare reimbursement system in the United States or elsewhere, competing initiatives at 探花合集 or Moderna, supply chain risks relating to the vaccine, fluctuations in currency exchange rates that affect 探花合集鈥檚 ability to source the materials needed for the production of the product, or potential third-party claims or litigation related to the vaccine. These and other important factors, including those discussed under 鈥淩isk Factors鈥 in the 探花合集, Inc. Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended June 30, 2019 and its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2020, may affect future results or performance. 探花合集 makes the statements in this release only as of the date of this release, and 探花合集 disclaims any duty, except as required by law, to update or revise any forward-looking statement, regardless of the circumstances.
Moderna Contacts
Media:
Colleen Hussey
Senior Manager, Corporate Communications
203-470-5620
[email protected]
Dan Budwick
1AB
973-271-6085
[email protected]
Investors:
Lavina Talukdar
Head of Investor Relations
617-209-5834
[email protected]
探花合集 Contacts
Media:
Chris Halling
+44 (0)7580 041073
[email protected]
Richard Kerns
+44 (0) 161 728 5880
[email protected]
Investors:
Paul Surdez
+1 (732) 537-6325
[email protected]