Inovio Enlists Kaneka to Help Manufacture COVID-19 Vaccine

Pennsylvania-based Inovio has inked a deal with Japan’s Kaneka for the large-scale manufacture of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, INO-4800.

Inovio said the deal will enable the production of “hundreds of millions” of doses for worldwide distribution. The company claims INO-4800 can remain stable for 30 days at 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit (37 degrees Celsius) and for over a year stored at room temperature.

The vaccine is currently undergoing a phase 2 study in the U.S., and the company has received a $71 million award from the Department of Defense to support development of the vaccine as well as the manufacture of Inovio’s vaccine-administering smart device.

Inovio struck a manufacturing deal in September with Thermo Fisher Scientific for more than 100 million annual doses of INO-4800 and has also secured distribution deals with Richter-Helm BioLogics and Ology Biosciences.