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(Adds Astra comment, background on U.S. government supply
contract)
ZURICH/FRANKFURT, Oct 30 (Reuters) - AstraZeneca has
enlisted contract manufacturer Lonza to produce a
combination of two antibodies that may help prevent and treat
COVID-19, part of a class of drugs the U.S. government sees as a
promising way to combat the pandemic.
Switzerland's Lonza said it would manufacture the antibodies
for the combination treatment, called AZD7442, at its facilities
in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Operations are expected to start
in the first half of 2021.
The U.S. government this month awarded $486 million to
AstraZeneca to develop and secure supplies of up to 100,000
doses of the experimental treatment.
AstraZeneca declined to disclose volumes or other terms of
the Lonza contract, but a spokesman said Lonza would be part a
global supply chain.
He added AstraZeneca would likely make more announcements on
supplies in future, potentially involving its own sites or
external partners.
AZD7442 is in Phase I clinical studies and AstraZeneca said
on Oct. 9 it planned to advance it into final Phase III trials
in the coming weeks.
AstraZeneca's agreement under the U.S. government's
Operation Warp Speed programme is to develop a monoclonal
antibody cocktail especially for high-risk people, such as those
over 80 years old.
Targeted antibodies made by biotech firm Regeneron
were used to treat President Donald Trump's COVID-19 infection.
The company signed a $450 million U.S. government deal in July
to sell doses for the treatment of around 300,000 people.
(Reporting by Michael Shields in Zurich and Ludwig Burger in
Frankfurt; editing by Thomas Seythal and Mark Potter)
