Catalent to Manufacture Drug Substance for AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate

Catalent Cell & Gene Therapy will manufacture drug substance for AstraZeneca for the University of Oxford’s adenovirus vector-based COVID-19 vaccine, AZD1222, at Catalent’s commercial gene therapy manufacturing facility located in Harmans, MD, the company announced in an August 24, 2020 press release. Beginning in the third quarter of 2020, Catalent will run multiple production trains in parallel to produce the vaccine candidate. The facility, located near the Baltimore-Washington International airport, is equipped with single-use technology and has more than 200,000-ft2 of late-stage clinical and commercial-stage gene therapy production.

Catalent previously announced it would provide large-scale vial filling and packaging of AZD1222 at its facility in Anagni, Italy. AZD1222 is currently in clinical trials; it was co-invented by the University of Oxford and its spin-out company, Vaccitech, and licensed by AstraZeneca.

“We are pleased to have the capabilities at our flagship Catalent Gene Therapy site to expand our support for the AstraZeneca program, while continuing to serve our current gene therapy customers. Our gene therapy team is proud to join our Catalent Biologics colleagues at the Anagni site in the advancement of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate,” said Manja Boerman, president, Catalent Cell & Gene Therapy, in the press release.