Prime minister visits the North East CDMO supporting Covid-19 vaccine production

Prime minister Boris Johnson visited the North East contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies, to meet the team working on the manufacture of a Covid-19 vaccine candidate.

The visit on 13 February saw the prime minister get a tour of Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies’ facilities in Billingham Teesside, where the manufacture of the active ingredient for Novavax’ Covid-19 vaccine will take place.  

Fujifilm has signed an agreement with Novavax to produce antigen for up to 180 million vaccine doses. 

The Prime Minister toured the laboratories and manufacturing facilities and was explained the science and technology behind Fujifilm’s work by a small number of the site’s staff. 

Prime minister Boris Johnson said: “I was delighted to visit Fujifilm today, and hear from Paul Found, Sarah Maxfield, Abigail Tyerman, Jonathan Haigh and others about the work being done to manufacture the Novavax vaccine, currently in Phase 3 clinical trials.

“If approved, Novavax will further strengthen our already record breaking vaccine rollout. The work of the team here to get this vaccine ready showcases some of the very best of British science and manufacturing.

I’m hugely proud of the efforts here at Fujifilm, as we all come together to beat this pandemic. I urge you all to keep up this vital work, helping to get those vaccines into arms and protecting our most vulnerable.”

Paul Found, chief operating officer, FujiFilm Diosynth Biotechnologies, UK, said: “As we prepare for production, we were extremely honoured to host the Prime Minister at our state-of-the-art development and manufacturing facilities on Teesside. During the tour, the Prime Minister had great interest in seeing our science and technology at work, and speaking with a small number of our talented team who are working on the Novavax Covid vaccine programme. The entire Fujifilm team feels a strong sense of pride that we are contributing to help address the pandemic.”

In January this year, Novavax announced that its Covid-19 vaccine met the primary endpoint for its Phase 3 clinical trial. The trial’s first interim analysis showed that the vaccine was 89.3% effective at preventing coronavirus and also displayed efficacy against a UK variant.