Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Enters Agreement To Produce CureVac’s CVnCoVCOVID-19 Vaccine

Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) has signed an agreement with CureVac NV to produce its CVnCoV COVID -19 vaccine candidate. The deal will boost potential vaccine supply by around 250 million doses in 2021 and 2022.

Novartis enters deal to produce 250 million doses of CureVac’s vaccine

Already preparations to commence production, test runs, and tech transfer are underway, with Novartis expected to start manufacturing the mRNA vaccines product in Q2 2021. The company will produce the vaccine at its new high-tech production facility under construction in Austria, with the first deliveries to CureVac due in 2021. The Novartis Kundl facility in Austria is being adapted to the mRNA’s production needs, with plans to produce 50 million doses this year and an additional 200 million doses in 2022. The company will deliver the bulk vaccine product to CureVac for processing and filling.

Notably, the deal with CureVac is different from the agreement with BioNtech, which required the company to put the shots into vials. The CureVac agreement is for the formulation and production of mRNA necessary for the manufacturing of a vaccine. This will be a massive capacity boost for CureVac, which has agreements with a network of partners, to help it produce up to 300 million vaccine doses in 2021. Novartis’s technical operations head Steffen Lang confirmed that the company has several COVID-19 vaccine production agreements in the works.

Novartis glad to support vaccine production efforts

In an interview, Lang stated that they feel obligated to help in COVID-19 vaccine production, and they are delighted to announce a deal with CureVac. He said that the company is a pioneer with decades of experience in proteins pharmaceutical production, and in recent years, nucleic acids. He said that currently, the company is expanding the Kundl site with more capacity for mRNA production to serve growing demand during these times.

The Swiss drugmaker is in discussions on more support for COVID-19 vaccine producers and some therapeutic drugs vital in treating COVID-19 patients. Land added that they expect to share more in the coming weeks about possible deals.