Novasep partners with AstraZeneca to produce Oxford University's Covid-19 vaccine

AstraZeneca has signed a partnership with viral vector manufacturer Novasep to produce the Covid-19 vaccine currently being developed by Oxford University. 

The partnership comes after AstraZeneca agreed to supply Europe with Oxford University’s Covid-19 vaccine in 2021. AstraZeneca made the deal with the Inclusive Alliance for Vaccines (IAV), whose members are France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. 

Novasep will be responsible for producing the vaccine’s active substance in Europe, with operations taking place at the company’s Belgian site in Seneffe. More so, Novasep has stated how the region’s strong biopharmaceutical activity can help it rapidly mobilise any additional human resources needed to achieve the project. 

Michel Spagnol, president and CEO of Novasep  said: "It is a great honour and pride for our teams in France and Belgium to contribute on a European scale to the fight against this pandemic. This confirms the increasing trends towards biopharmaceuticals and validates the strategic investment choices that we have been making in the production of viral vectors for several years with the support of our board. We thank AstraZeneca for its confidence in our expertise and industrial capacity. We look forward to meeting one of the major challenges of this decade".