Moderna Signs Vial-Filling Deal With Baxter to Bolster Supply

(Bloomberg) -- Moderna Inc. added a second partner in the U.S. to help fill vaccine vials, inking a deal with Baxter International Inc. to help the company produce 60 million to 90 million Covid vaccine doses in 2021.

The doses will be produced in Bloomington, Indiana by Baxter’s sterile injectable contract manufacturing unit, the companies said in a statement. “This additional production will help us continue to scale up our manufacturing capacity in the United States,” said Juan Andres, Moderna’s Chief Technical Operations and Quality Officer, in a statement.

Moderna has deals with the U.S. government to provide 300 million doses of its vaccine this year. It said in February it aimed to complete delivery of the doses by the end of July, and was looking at ways to accelerate the process.

Manufacturing vaccines is typically a two stage process. One plant makes the raw ingredients, while a second facility fills the vials and tests for sterility. Moderna already has a deal with Catalent Inc. to produce and fill vials of the the vaccine.

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.