Biotech company Moderna sign global agreement to manufacture 1 billion potential coronavirus vaccine

Group and Moderna announced on Friday they are teaming up to accelerate the manufacturing of a potential coronavirus vaccine. Swiss contract drugmaker Lonza Group and Massachusetts-based Moderna announced a 10-year collaboration agreement to manufacture up to 1 billion doses per year of Moderna's mRNA-1273 vaccine, as well as additional Moderna products in the future. Group and Moderna announced on Friday they are teaming up to accelerate the manufacturing of a potential coronavirus vaccine. Just one day prior to the biotech companies' announcement, pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford announced their own partnership in the development, manufacturing and distribution of another potential coronavirus vaccine being developed by the Jenner Institute and Oxford Vaccine Group at the University of Oxford. 

Swiss contract drugmaker Lonza Group and Massachusetts-based Moderna announced a 10-year collaboration agreement to manufacture up to 1 billion doses per year of Moderna's mRNA-1273 vaccine, as well as additional Moderna products in the future. "This long-term strategic collaboration agreement will enable Moderna to accelerate, by 10-times, our manufacturing capacity for mRNA-1273 and additional products in Moderna's large clinical portfolio," Stéphane Bancel, Moderna's CEO, said in a press release. "Lonza's global presence and expertise are critical as we scale at unprecedented speed." Across the globe, health officials report more than 3.27 million cases of the coronavirus, and more than 233,790 people have died.