CureVac and Rentschler Accelerate COVID-19 Vaccine Manufacturing

CureVac and Rentschler Biopharma announced on Feb. 1, 2021 that they have started the process of setting up manufacturing capabilities for CureVac´s COVID-19 vaccine, CVnCoV.

The companies previously entered into a collaboration in November 2020 with the goal of producing more than 100 million doses of the CureVac vaccine per year at Rentschler’s Laupheim, Germany facility, Rentschler said in a company press release. Currently, Rentschler is preparing for largescale cGMP production of the vaccine while CureVac handles the vaccine’s clinical Phase IIb/III trial.

“We are pleased to partner with Rentschler Biopharma, whose quality work is well known in the industry, to conduct key aspects of the CVnCoV production process,” said Dr. Florian von der Mülbe, chief production officer of CureVac, in the press release. “CureVac has started building an integrated European vaccine manufacturing network with several CDMO partners. With this strategy, the company will expect a significant increase in manufacturing capacity for CVnCoV, potentially reaching up to several hundred million doses per year while mitigating potential supply chain risks.”

“From the beginning of our planning process, the relationship between the CureVac and Rentschler Biopharma teams has been highly collaborative, driven by our common goal of doing our part to address the major global need for safe and effective vaccines against COVID-19,” added Federico Pollano, senior vice-president, Global Business Development at Rentschler, in the press release. “We are working tirelessly to optimize the production chain and then obtain the necessary regulatory certifications, so that we can begin manufacturing large-scale commercial supply as soon as possible.”

Source: Rentschler