Emergent to Produce COVID-19 Vaccine for Providence Therapeutics

Gaithersburg, Md.-based Emergent BioSolutions has struck a five-year deal with Providence Therapeutics to help manufacture the Canadian company’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate.

The $90 million deal will cover contract manufacturing services, global supply chain studies and investments in facility and equipment at Emergent’s plant in Winnipeg, Manitoba. And additional process and analytical development services will be provided at Emergent’s Gaithersburg facility.

Manufacturing is set to begin next year, when Emergent will begin production of “tens of millions of doses” of Providence’s investigational messenger RNA-based vaccine, PTX-COVID19-B, in addition to batches of PTX-COVID19-B formulated bulk drug substance.

Emergent has made headlines in recent months when its Bayview plant in Baltimore had to dump 75 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) COVID-19 vaccine because of cross-contamination with AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine produced at the facility (DID, July 6).

Though the FDA later allowed Emergent to resume drug substance production at the Bayview site, vaccine doses produced at the plant still aren’t covered under J&J’s Emergency Use Authorization, which lists authorized manufacturing sites. ― Jason Scott