Moderna has tapped New Jersey-based Catalent for fill-finish manufacturing of its COVID-19 vaccine mRNA-1273.

Catalent will provide filling and packing capacity at its Bloomingdale, Ind., site, as well as additional staffing for 24/7 manufacturing operations for the production of an initial 100 million doses of the vaccine. Those doses are intended to meet U.S. demand starting in the third quarter of this year.

Catalent will also provide clinical supply services from its facilities in Philadelphia to support Moderna’s phase 3 clinical trial of the vaccine, which is expected to begin next month. Moderna said that it expects to enroll 30,000 participants in the U.S.

Moderna’s messenger RNA vaccine is among the frontrunners selected for accelerated development by the Trump administration’s Operation Warp Speed (DID, June 4). — James Miessler