Celonic Group to Manufacture CureVac’s mRNA COVID Vaccine Candidate

Biopharmaceutical company CureVac and contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) Celonic Group announced in a March 30, 2021 press release that they have entered into a commercial supply agreement to produce CureVac’s mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine candidate, CvnCoV, at Celonic’s commercial manufacturing facility for biologics and advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs) in Heidelberg, Germany.

Celonic will be prepared to manufacture more than 100 million doses of CvnCoV, with more than 50 million doses expected to be produced before the end of 2021. Under the terms of the initial agreement, technology and knowledge transfer is already underway. The commercial supply agreement includes manufacturing of the mRNA drug substance as well as lipid nanoparticle formulation of the bulk drug product.

CureVac’s overall capacity, throughout its European manufacturing network, is expected to be up to 300 million doses in 2021.

“Manufacturing of sufficient quantities of vaccine is critical to combating the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Dr. Florian von der Mülbe, chief production officer of CureVac, in the press release. “With this partnership, we are further extending our integrated European manufacturing network, reinforcing the overall production capacity for our COVID-19 vaccine candidate, CVnCoV.”

“We have invested heavily to support our partners in bringing novel COVID-19 therapeutics and vaccines to patients, at an accelerated pace,” added Dr. Konstantin Matentzoglu, CEO of Celonic, in the press release.

Source: CureVac