Catalent contract drug manufacturer Inc.
CTLT -2.95%
They are planning a major expansion of their Covid-19 vaccine production in Europe, allowing him to make more doses of Johnson & Johnson‘s
JNJ 0.59%
bullet, said people familiar with the affair.
Catalent Online will deliver a second line of J&J vaccine products at their plant in Anagni, Italy, during the fourth quarter, the people said. The expansion has the potential to double the plant’s production of Covid-19 vaccines, one of the people said.
The ramp should support the supply of Covid-19 vaccine in the European Union, which is hampered by the signing of contracts, delivery problems and problems with circulating shots in some member states.
European regulators have recently cleared the J&J vaccine, although release is not expected to begin until next month.
J&J has agreed to give the EU 200 million doses this year, and the EU has the option to buy another 200 million. The company has said it was confident it would meet its full-year target.
NIAID Director Anthony Fauci says it is dangerous to withdraw from public health measures, as things could go on and then go backwards, as they did in Europe.
Johnson & Johnson declined to comment. The company has listed nearly a dozen companies to help make their Covid-19 design, including Merck & Co. and Sanofi SA
.
Catalent, based in Somerset, NJ, is one of the largest contract drug dealers in the world.
The company agreed to buy the 300,000-square-foot facility in Italy in 2019 and took ownership in January 2020. The company changed last year to help make Covid-19 vaccines.
Catalent is currently assisting with the production of the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca PLC and Oxford University at the facility.
The first J&J vaccination at the facility is expected to begin in the second quarter, according to those familiar with the case. Catalent expects to produce hundreds of millions of doses.
The expansion will increase the plant’s ability to make a key step in vaccine production. The step, called end-filling, involves filling filters with vaccines, capping the filters and preparing the product for disposal.
Health authorities around the world have been looking forward to J&J bullets, in part because they can be stored in refrigerators instead of freezers, making shipping and handling easier than ever. other Covid-19 images.
J&J is also just one-shot, unlike vaccines from Moderna Inc., Inc.
Pfizer Inc.
and the BioNTech SE partner that requires two doses weeks apart.
Catalent also makes a filling finish for J&J vaccines at the Bloomington, Ind. Plant, Italian lines operate at rates similar to Indiana’s, filling 400 vials per minute, the people said. Each vial contains 5 doses.
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