TOKYO (AP) – Japan’s Fujifilm Holdings said Monday that it won an order to produce a key component of the coronavirus vaccine candidate at US biotechnology company Novavax in the UK.
Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies, a subsidiary of Fujifilm, will produce the antigenic component beginning in early 2021. The production will meet a British order of 60 million doses.
The Billingham City site has enough capacity for 180 million doses consistent with the year. The scale opens the door to other vaccine candidate materials outside the UK.
Novavax is looking to expand next-generation vaccines using nanoparticle technology. The COVID-19 vaccine candidate earned $1.6 billion in investment from the U.S. government’s Operation Warp Speed effort as well as the personal sector.
The candidate vaccine will go through phase 3 clinical trials this fall in the United States and Britain. Novavax has a contract with the Japanese MCO for the manufacture of adjuvants.
Fujifilm Diosynth recently announced an agreement to produce a bulk pharmaceutical substance in the US state of North Carolina for the Novavax candidate vaccine. It also agreed to supply production at a Texas site for a modified virus vaccine that is being developed through U.S.-based Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding.
Fujifilm Diosynth also earned $265 million in U.S. investment. To reserve and expand its capacity in Texas.
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