Pfizer to Halve Production Time for its COVID-19 Vaccine

Pfizer said it can cut the time it takes to manufacture its COVID-19 vaccine by almost half from 110 days to an estimated 60 days, a change that should significantly increase the speed of U.S. vaccinations.

The vaccines must pass through three separate facilities. The process begins at the company’s Chesterfield, Miss, facility before moving on to its plant in Andover, Mass., and ending with a finishing step at its Kalamazoo, Mich., facility.

The company said it has now added manufacturing lines at each site to boost output and has also learned ways to accelerate the process. One such improvement is a faster turnaround time in making the DNA used in vaccine production, shortening the initial 16 days to nine or 10 days, the company said.

The company calls the process “Project Light Speed,” explained Chaz Calitri, Pfizer’s vice president for operations who oversees the Kalamazoo plant. The initial production was slower because of the newness of the messenger RNA-based vaccine, which moved from the development stage in the laboratory directly to manufacturing without the benefit of time to fine-tune production.

The company now plans to deliver its entire 200 million vaccine-dose order to the U.S. government by the end of May, two months earlier than anticipated (DID, Feb. 3). The government has an option to buy an additional 400 million doses under a deal negotiated at the end of 2020 (DID, Dec. 28, 2020). ― Jason Scott