Swiss regulators have provided contract manufacturer Lonza Group authorization to begin production of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine at its plant in Switzerland. According to one spokesperson for Lonza’s Visp-based plant, Lonza has already begun the preparation process to ensure that mass production of the vaccine can get underway.
Manufacturing of the vaccine is expected to begin within a few days, on the condition that the delivery process is approved in Europe.
According to reports, Lonza’s Europe-based facility is capable of producing 800,000 vaccine doses per day. The doses will then be shipped to a Spanish company that will ready the doses for individual delivery.
The Swiss-based Lonza entered into an agreement in May with Moderna to mass-produce doses of its vaccine. While production at Lonza’s US-based facility is already underway, it will only begin production in Europe once the Europe watchdog provides approval, which is expected to come sometime this week.
The United States signed off on the Moderna vaccine on December 19th, while the Canadian government approved its distribution on December 23rd.
