Large-Scale COVID-19 Vaccine Manufacture Deal Agreed

AstraZeneca AB has signed an agreement with Netherlands-based HALIX B.V for large-scale commercial drug substance manufacture of AZD1222, the adenovirus vector-based COVID-19 vaccine, co-invented by the University of Oxford and its spin-out company Vaccitech.

Under the agreement, HALIX, one of the original partners in the University of Oxford’s consortium, will provide commercial manufacturing of drug substance at its cGMP facility at the Leiden Bio Science Park in the Netherlands, which has been expanded with two additional viral vector production lines.

Alex Huybens, Chief Operations Officer, states, “Building on the solid foundations made with the University of Oxford, it’s our pleasure to expand our manufacturing support of AZD1222 with AstraZeneca. Through the consortium, the partners are bringing their collective expertise and manufacturing capabilities to support vaccine production and combat this evolving crisis.”

HALIX has an established track record for the development and GMP manufacture of viral vectors used in immuno-oncology and to vaccinate against infectious diseases, such as HIV, ZIKA, Chikungunya and the Influenza. Its 6,700 m2 BSL2 GMP facility at Leiden Bio Science Park, recently approved by the Dutch authorities, provides both clinical and commercial scale manufacturing capabilities in fully independent, self-contained Grade B and C cleanrooms for virus products. The company belongs to the family owned Droege Group AG.

More information: online