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* Looking to speed up output of COVID-19 shot in Q2
* Investing in more capacity to come onstream by end 2022
* EU aims to boost production of vaccines within the bloc
(Adds confirmation, contract details)
By Francesco Guarascio and Ludwig Burger
Feb 10 (Reuters) - AstraZeneca has enlisted
Germany's IDT Biologika as a contract manufacturer of its
COVID-19 vaccine, as Germany and the European Union seek to
boost a delayed immunisation campaign.
AstraZeneca said on Wednesday it was looking into options
with IDT to speed up output of finished COVID-19 vaccine in the
second quarter, and that both companies planned to invest in
adding capacity at IDT Biologika’s production site in Dessau,
eastern Germany, to go on stream by the end of 2022.
That investment would include up to five 2,000-litre
bioreactors capable of making tens of millions of doses per
month of AstraZeneca's vaccine.
The investment could also allow for the production of other
vaccines using a similar manufacturing process, they added.
IDT Biologika produces viral vaccines for pharmaceutical
companies and has suffered a recent setback in developing its
own vaccine against COVID-19.
IDT has previously said it was doing work for AstraZeneca on
the British firm's vaccine, which is co-developed with Oxford
University.
Under the deal, which was earlier reported by Reuters, IDT
would make the active ingredient, and mix, bottle and pack the
final product.
The German group said it would invest a "triple digit
million euro" amount and AstraZeneca's share of that was subject
to ongoing talks.
IDT's own experimental COVID-19 vaccine, co-developed with
the German Centre for Infection Research (DZIF), did not prompt
the hoped-for immune reaction in early-stage testing on humans,
resulting in a suspension of the trial last month.
Germany and other EU governments are under fire over a slow
start to vaccinations, as deliveries from Pfizer and
partner BioNTech, as well as from AstraZeneca, fell
short of projections.
“This agreement will greatly help Europe build an
independent vaccine manufacturing capability that will allow it
to meet the challenges of the current pandemic and create
strategic supply capacity for the future," said AstraZeneca
Chief Executive Pascal Soriot.
The German regional state of Saxony-Anhalt, home to IDT,
said this month the company was in talk to produce Russia's
Sputnik V vaccine, developed by the Gamaleya institute.
(Reporting by Ludwig Burger. Editing by Kirsti Knolle and Mark
Potter)
