Cobra Biologics agrees to manufacture AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine

Contract development manufacturing organisation (CDMO) Cobra Biologics has signed a supply agreement with AstraZeneca to manufacture the pharma company’s Covid-19 vaccine.

The production agreement signed by Cobra Biologics means that the CDMO will manufacture AstraZeneca’s adenovirus vector-based Covid-19 vaccine candidate, AZD1222, previously known as ChAdOx1 n-CoV-19.

The agreement follows AstraZeneca’s recently announced partnership with the University of Oxford, in which it aims to supply the vaccine throughout the world on a not-for-profit basis.

Earlier this year, Cobra announced that it is working as part of a consortium with the Jenner Institute, University of Oxford and others, to rapidly develop, scale-up and produce the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine. Cobra is aiming to start delivering the first batch of the AZD1222 vaccine in the UK starting in September.

Peter Coleman, chief executive at Cobra Biologics, said: “I am extremely proud of the contribution made by the Cobra team alongside our consortium partners and despite the current restrictive requirements in place, the progress being made with demanding timelines is outstanding.  Cobra’s considerable expertise in GMP viral vector scale up and manufacture will be critical to a successful manufacturing campaign. The agreement with AstraZeneca comes at an opportune time for us as we bring three additional viral vector suites online as part of our ongoing advanced therapies expansion programme.”