Pfizer clears its production plate to make way for coronavirus vaccine

May 11, 2020

Pfizer is looking to shift manufacturing for some of its products to outsourcing companies to help create more capacity for a coronavirus vaccine.

The company said it will tap into the capacity capabilities for the 200 partners in its network, including Thermo Fisher, Catalent and Lonza, to outsource manufacturing of intravenous drugs. The move will help Pfizer make way for the production of its coronavirus vaccine candidate, which it is developing with Germany’s BioNTech.

Clinical trials of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine, which is based on mRNA technology, recently entered human trials. The companies are hoping to score emergency use authorization from the FDA by October.

But Pfizer is also ramping up for production of the vaccine, despite a lack in clinical data showing its efficacy. The company says the ultimate goal is to be able to distribute 20 million doses of the vaccine by the end of this year.

Read the Reuters report.