Lonza Expands Collaboration with Altimmune for its COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate

Lonza and Altimmune, a US-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, announced on March 12, 2021 that they have expanded their manufacturing collaboration for Altimmune’s single-dose intranasal vaccine candidate for COVID-19, AdCOVID.

Under the terms of the expanded agreement, Lonza will provide a manufacturing suite for the clinical and commercial production of AdCOVID at its facility in Houston, TX, Lonza said in a company press release. Altimmune found that AdCOVID has the potential to provide immunity of up to a year or more following a single dose, with the potential for a favorable tolerability profile.

“Manufacturing capacity for COVID-19 vaccines has been severely constrained, and this limitation has presented considerable challenges for vaccine developers,” said Dr. Vyjayanthi Krishnan, vice-president of Product Development, Altimmune, in the press release. “By expanding our Lonza collaboration and commissioning our own dedicated manufacturing suite, we are building extra capacity and redundancy into our manufacturing to support potential late-stage clinical trials with AdCOVID and potential future commercial supply. Lonza continues to be an outstanding partner in this mission, and we are pleased to have the opportunity to further our relationship with this world class team.”

“Altimmune’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate could be a complete game-changer in the fight against COVID-19,” added Alberto Santagostino, senior vice-president, head of Cell and Gene Technologies, Lonza, in the press release. “Our reinforced commitment is to enable the team at Altimmune to scale-up production as needed and deliver vaccines at a global scale when ready.”

Souce: Lonza