Moderna and Thermo Fisher Scientific Form Long-Term Strategic Manufacturing Collaboration

Moderna and Thermo Fisher announced on Feb. 23, 2022, that they have entered into a 15-year strategic collaboration agreement for the dedicated, large-scale manufacturing of Spikevax, Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine, in the United States. The agreement also applies to other investigational messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutic candidates in Moderna’s pipeline.

Thermo Fisher has been partners with Moderna over the past several years to support Moderna’s development pipeline with both clinical research and contract manufacturing services. The partnership included the quick scale-up of aseptic fill/finish services and packaging of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine.

As part of the current, expanded agreement, Thermo Fisher will now provide dedicated capacity for a range of aseptic fill/finish services. These services include lyophilized and liquid filling. Furthermore, Thermo Fisher will provide inspection, labeling, and final packaging services.

“We are pleased to further expand our collaboration with Thermo Fisher as a long-term manufacturing partner that will enable us to continue to build on our mRNA platform and pipeline,” said Juan Andres, Moderna's chief technical operations and quality officer, in a company press release.

"Moderna’s innovation in mRNA technology has been pivotal in the global response to the pandemic and we are proud and privileged to support Moderna over the [p]ast decade,” said Michel Lagarde, executive vice-president and chief operating officer of Thermo Fisher Scientific, in the press release. “In expanding our strategic partnership, Moderna will further leverage our scale and depth of capabilities to continue to transform its mRNA platform and bring new breakthrough medicines to patients around the world."

Source: Moderna