Moderna Taps Thermo Fisher to Help Scale Up COVID-19 Vaccine Production

Moderna Inc MRNA entered into an agreement with Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc TMO for manufacturing and packaging its COVID-19 vaccine, as Moderna looks to scale up production.
Thermo Fisher Scientific will provide fill-finish, labeling, and packaging services for Moderna’s mRNA vaccine at Thermo Fisher’s commercial manufacturing site in Greenville, North Carolina.
Moderna said the latest agreement would “support the production of hundreds of millions of doses,” and production is set to begin in the third quarter this year.
Moderna already has a standing relationship with Thermo Fisher, which has supplied the biotech with raw materials for its COVID-19 vaccine, said Juan Andres, Moderna’s chief technical operations and quality officer.
Last week, Moderna tapped South Korea’s Samsung Biologics to leverage a finishing, labeling, and packaging line to crank out vaccine doses for countries other than the U.S.
Yesterday, Moderna said it’s seeking full FDA approval of its COVID-19 vaccine, currently under an emergency use authorization.
Thermo Fisher also agreed to help Humanigen Inc HGEN scale up manufacturing of lenzilumab, a monoclonal antibody for cytokine storm in severe COVID-19 patients.
Humanigen said last week that it asked the FDA to grant lenzilumab emergency authorization.
Price Action: MRNA and TMO shares closed at $184.6 and $447.01, respectively, on Tuesday.