Moderna vaccine vials here in Germany. (drawing) – Matthias Schrader / AP / SIPA
The Swiss group Lonza, which is one of the major suppliers to pharmaceutical laboratories, will open a new production line in the Netherlands to manufacture the Moderna vaccine, he said on Wednesday. It will be installed in its factory located in
Geleen, In the south of the country, and should enter service at the end of 2021, the Swiss group said in a press release.
It should make it possible to manufacture up to 300 million additional doses per year when it is running at full capacity, said Lonza, which thus strengthens its collaboration with the American biotechnology company. In May last year, Lonza signed a first agreement with Moderna providing for a ten-year collaboration for the production of its anti-covid vaccine as well as other Moderna products in the future.
The Swiss group, which manufactures active ingredients for the production of vaccines, has since set up three production lines at its plant in Visp in Switzerland and one at its site in Portsmouth in the United States, in New Hampshire. Faced with the vaccine shortage, Lonza and Moderna had already extended their partnership in April 2021 with a new agreement providing for the establishment of three additional production lines at its plant in Switzerland.