Pharmaceutical giant Bayer announced on Monday that it will produce the coronavirus vaccine that the German company CureVac is developing from 2022.
“I am happy to announce that we have the capacity to produce the CureVac vaccine from mRNAStefan Oelrich, Bayer’s head of pharmaceuticals, told the press, adding that the company’s goal is to 160 million doses in the first 12 months.
“It is still necessary to increase the availability of vaccines”, Oelrich added.
These capabilities will contribute to CureVac’s existing network production of 300 million doses this year and 1 billion by 2022, explains Franz-Werner Haas, CEO of CureVac, whose vaccine project is currently in phase 3 clinical trials.
It is currently “in the certification process”, Health Minister Jens Spahn said at the same press conference.
According to the minister, long-term production of the vaccine is important in view of possible changes or the need for a second vaccination within one or more years.
Bayer and Tübingen-based laboratory CureVac announced a collaboration in January to accelerate vaccine development.