AUSTRALIA – BioNTech SE, the German biotech that collaborated with Pfizer to develop a widely used COVID-19 vaccine, will establish research and manufacturing facilities in Australia based on the same technology, the company and Australian lawmakers have announced.
The collaboration would also include the establishment of mRNA manufacturing facilities in Melbourne.
The State of Victoria and BioNTech will establish a research and innovation center, directed in collaboration with the State, to support Australia’s mRNA ecosystem by curating projects and determining their potential transition into preclinical and clinical development, with BioNTech’s advice and know-how.
The collaboration will also include experimental therapy research and development, including mRNA-based product candidates for indications.
BioNTech’s expertise in mRNA research and clinical development of potential new products will be used to support the R&D efforts on a project-by-project basis.
Meanwhile, earlier on, BioNTech began to make good on its promise to bring an end-to-end mRNA vaccine manufacturing network to the African continent.
CEO Uğur Şahin presidents of three African countries, dignitaries from Europe, and others attended the ceremony in June to break ground on a site in Kigali, Rwanda, where the production effort will begin.
BioNTech also intends to build similar BioNTainer facilities in Senegal and South Africa. It intends to ship the first of two BioNTainers to Rwanda before the end of the year. These plants are expected to employ 100 people by 2024.
Pfizer and BioNTech have also integrated South Africa’s Biovac into their manufacturing network, and the company recently produced its first batch of mRNA shot Comirnaty.
Biovac completed the first doses from its Cape Town facility early last month, according to Bloomberg. Subsequent Biovac doses are expected to be commercially available in 2023.
In other news, BioNTech announced plans to establish a presence in Asia last year, establishing its first regional hub in Singapore. In addition to establishing a headquarters, BioNTech intends to establish fully integrated mRNA manufacturing there.
Elsewhere on the manufacturing front, other manufacturers such as Merck KGaA’s MilliporeSigma and Gilead’s Kite Pharma, have increased capacity through new global facilities.
Kite’s new vector manufacturing facility, built on Gilead’s California campus, went live earlier this week after the FDA approved it.
MilliporeSigma recently opened a 29,000-square-foot facility in France, just three weeks after opening another on the opposite side of the country.
Eisai, the Japanese conglomerate, has opened the doors of a US$68 million injection and research facility christened “Eisai Medicine Innovation Technology Solutions” (EMITS) at its Japanese industrial park.
The facility will house Eisai’s formulation and modality research, which will include antibodies, ADCs, and other small molecules.
The site will produce materials for clinical trials as well as other testing and research capabilities.
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