Bayer and Rentschler to help produce CureVacs COVID-19 shot
Bayer and Rentschler to help produce CureVac's COVID-19 shot
BERLIN (Reuters) - CureVac has signed up pharmaceuticals giant Bayer and contract drugmaker Rentschler to help to produce its experimental COVID-19 vaccine, joining the global push to boost vaccine supplies.
German biotech company CureVac, which began late-stage testing of the vaccine in December and expects to announce interim results this quarter, said it aims to produce up to 300 million doses in 2021 and between 600 million and 1 billion doses in 2022.
Bayer, making the first foray into vaccine manufacturing in its 160-year history, expects to produce 160 million doses of the CureVac shot in 2022 at its Wuppertal site in western Germany, head of pharma Stefan Oelrich told a news conference.
Though the volume target was for next year, Bayer hopes to be able to launch production in 2021, Oerlich said.
“For us, the biggest bottleneck in building the production line is to be able to have the production gear installed in time,” he told Reuters.
