The Indiana site has capabilities and expertise in parenteral delivery systems and clinical and commercial vaccine manufacturing, including preventive and seasonal vaccines for global markets, along with production and commercialization services.

CDMO Catalent is currently performing fill & finish and packaging work for Moderna's vaccine at its own Bloomington plant. Moderna said recently it aims to double its monthly shipments to the US by April and is working closely with partners and the US government to address bottlenecks. Fill & finish proving to be an especially difficult hurdle, it added.

Baxter BioPharma Solutions employs more than 700 people at Bloomington, where it has operated for the past 20 years. Taking the CMO on board will help Moderna further scale up its vaccine manufacturing capacity, said Juan Andres, the biotech’s chief technical operations and quality officer.

This January, Baxter signed on to handle fill and finish for the Novavax vaccine candidate at its facility in Halle, Germany. The vaccine maker’s CEO, Stanley Erck, said last week said he hopes for the FDA’s approval by May. The company is targeting production of 2 billion doses during 2021.

Author: Dede Williams, Freelance Journalist