Executives at Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson say they are working from all angles to increase production of the COVID-19 vaccine and hope to increase weekly deliveries by tens of millions by the end of March.
Pfizer, which is shipping 4 to 5 million doses a week, plans to increase it to 13 million a week by mid-March, according to an executive testimony planned for the Tuesday morning hearing before the Committee’s oversight arm. Chamber of Energy and Commerce.
J&J, which reportedly had just 2 million doses in stock last week, should be able to ship 20 million by March 31 – as long as it obtains FDA authorization as expected, Richard Nettles, MD, vice president of affairs US doctors at Janssen’s infectious disease and vaccine unit, said in their testimony. The chance is open for a review of the FDA panel later this week.
And Moderna, which has already doubled its monthly deliveries to the feds this year and has so far provided 45 million doses of its mRNA vaccine, plans to double monthly deliveries again by April, says President Stephen Hoge’s testimony.
Moderna is on track to end three promises of 100 million doses by the end of March, May and July, respectively, added Hoge. To achieve this goal, the company is “continually learning and working closely with our partners and the federal government to identify ways to resolve bottlenecks and accelerate our production,” said Hoge, citing fill-finish as an especially complicated obstacle.
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CDMO Catalent currently performs the filling work for Moderna’s photo at its biological products facility in Bloomington, Indiana, while Moderna itself inspects, tests and packs full bottles for delivery. That may change soon, as Moderna hires an additional filling and finishing partner in the United States to increase capacity and complement the company’s own packaging and testing processes.
Moderna also hopes to increase the number of doses in its vaccine vials, which are currently allowed to contain 10. The FDA offered “positive feedback” about Moderna’s efforts to include up to 15 doses per vial – a move that would speed up manufacturing runs and eliminates the need for high-demand consumables, said Hoge.
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On February 17, Pfizer delivered about 40 million doses of its rival mRNA vaccine, said business director John Young in his prepared statement. Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech increased production and pledged to produce at least 2 billion doses of their injection, Comirnaty, by the end of the year.
The company injected investments into its facilities in Saint Louis, Missouri; Andover, Massachusetts; Kalamazoo, Michigan; and Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin. This in addition to the new lines at the company’s McPherson, Kansas, site and the start of lipid production in Groton, Connecticut, Young said.
With that, Pfizer calculates that it can fulfill its promise to prepare 120 million doses for the US by the end of March, followed by another 80 million doses in May, and expects to ship all 300 promised doses by the end of July.
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Meanwhile, Johnson & Johnson, whose single-dose adenovirus injection is being voted on by the FDA advisory committee on Friday, is “working non-stop” to increase production in the United States, Nettles said.
The company plans to deliver 20 million doses by the end of March, if the shot is approved by the FDA. J&J says it will supply a total of 100 million in the first half of the year. The company is “continuing to partner with the U.S. government to explore all options for accelerating delivery,” added Nettles.
J&J started preparing its facilities in the Netherlands for vaccine production last July, and since then, the company has been striving to strengthen its own production capacity and sign contracts with manufacturers, Nettles said, adding that it plans to have seven units of vaccines. manufacturing of COVID-19 vaccines installed and working in the middle of the year.
The Johnson & Johnson manufacturing process is divided into two stages: manufacture of medicated substances and manufacture of medications. The production of the drug substance – which involves growing the necessary biological cells and purifying the active vaccine – takes about two months, Nettles said.
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It then takes another five to six weeks to produce, test and release the outlets – work that will be done in Europe, Asia, Africa and at US units in Indiana, Pennsylvania and Michigan. Regulatory inspections for specialized equipment used at this stage of the manufacturing process are also underway, said Nettles.
Although a setback in a clinical trial last year delayed J&J’s journey to the finish line, his shot still has an important role to play in vaccination efforts in the United States and beyond, analysts believe. In a note to customers, Cantor Fitzgerald wrote last week that the single-dose injection “has perfect characteristics to make the product the most desirable vaccine in countries that have a less sophisticated supply chain than the US”
That is, the single dosage regimen of the injection would make administration easier; in addition, the Johnson & Johnson injection can be stored in standard refrigerator temperatures from 36 degrees to 46 degrees Fahrenheit, bypassing the stringent cold chain requirements of Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines.