USA – Emergent BioSolutions and Canadain biotechnology company Providence Therapeutics have entered into a five-year contract development and manufacturing (CDMO) services agreement for a Covid-19 vaccine spanning Emergent’s integrated capabilities.
Emergent will produce drug substances for Providence’s vaccine candidate, PTX-COVID19-B, as well as provide services for finished products such as filling the vaccine in vials at its Winnipeg facility in Canada.
The baseline agreement signed between Emergent and Providence Therapeutics is valued at approximately US$90 million, covering manufacturing services, studies to support global supply chain activities, as well as facility and equipment investments.
“Providence is very pleased to have the resources necessary to ramp up commercial manufacturing of its COVID vaccine here in Canada. We look forward to working side-by-side with Emergent to deliver tens of millions, and potentially hundreds of millions of doses of our world-class vaccine to developing countries across the globe,” Brad Sorenson, Providence CEO said.
In 2022, Emergent expects to manufacture tens of millions of doses of the drug product, as well as batches of formulated bulk drug substances with the potential to yield hundreds of millions more Covid-19 doses, for global populations in need of pandemic relief.
The vaccine by Providence uses the messenger RNA (mRNA) technology, also used in COVID-19 shots developed by Moderna Inc and Pfizer Inc. Providence’s vaccine is currently being tested in a mid-stage trial in Canada.
Under the terms of the five-year agreement, Emergent will provide current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) manufacturing services for two presentations of the PTX-COVID19-B vaccine product, both the formulated bulk drug substance and finished drug product (fill/finish), at Emergent’s facility in Canada.
“This collaboration is a testament to Emergent’s long heritage and experience in Canada. We are proud that Providence has chosen our Winnipeg team and site to manufacture its Canadian mRNA technology in Western Canada, one of the few facilities in the country manufacturing large quantities of mRNA COVID-19 vaccine doses today,” said Adam R. Havey, executive vice president and chief operating officer at Emergent BioSolutions.
To date, Emergent has partnered with numerous pharmaceutical and biotech innovators, as well as the U.S. government and non-government organizations in providing critical contract manufacturing services (drug substance manufacturing, drug product manufacturing and development services) in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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