Dutch biotech Intravacc seeks to bolster Netherlands vaccine manufacturing abilities with new plants

2021-02-25

疫苗合作

The pandemic has given a huge edge to any country that can produce vaccine in its borders. Now one vaccine biotech is looking to make sure their country has that edge for any future pandemic. Arguing Covid-19 exposed the Netherlands’ “vulnerability,” Dutch vaccines company Intravacc recently announced that its new “modern pilot production plant” will soon be functional and that it’s spearheading a conglomerate designing a multipurpose vaccine production plant. In future medical emergencies, the company hopes that such a plant will make the Netherlands far less reliant on foreign vaccine production than the country has been during the ongoing pandemic. The pilot production plant, Intravacc said in a press release , will officially launch in the second quarter of 2021 (which begins in April), and is equipped with GMP manufacturing conditions to produce candidate vaccines for Phase I and II studies. The multipurpose plant has broad purposes, says Intravacc CEO Jan Groen. The company hopes the site will bring new companies aboard and promote stable job growth in the Netherlands, in addition to offer protection against future pandemics. The facility, acronymed MPVPP, will be designed to produce between 40 and 200 million doses per year, the company said, and be suitable for the formulation and actual production of vaccines, as well as for filling and packaging vaccine vials. “A new and state-of-the-art MPVPP facility, in combination with the now almost completed pilot plant, would make the Netherlands much less dependent on foreign vaccine production in the event of a future pandemic,” Groen said. The Dutch vaccines company in September also landed an up to $9.4 million contract from NIAID to develop a vaccine for enterovirus D68, a respiratory virus that can cause paralysis.

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