Two years after announcing plans to expand into the US, WuXi Biologics has signed a land deal allowing construction of a $60 million plant in Worcester, Massachusetts. For Chinese contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) WuXi Biologics, 2018 was a landmark year, signaling major growth through the announcement of several expansions. Along with several additional single-use biomanufacturing plants in China, the firm set its sites on global expansion, first announcing plans for a 54,000 L plant in Ireland, then a…

Vibalogics will provide clinical trial material for J&J’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate from its site in Cuxhaven, Germany. J&J is also working with Catalent and Emergent. Johnson & Johnson (J&J) began working on a vaccine against COVID-19 in early January once the coronavirus sequence became first available, and at the end of March identified the lead its lead candidate along with two backups. Since then, the firm has worked on ensuring production of clinical and – potentially – commercial supply, with a pledge…

Moderna Therapeutics believes its Norwood, Massachusetts manufacturing plant is a “competitive strategic advantage” in the race to develop and scale-up a vaccine against COVID-19. Moderna released data from a small Phase I study of its candidate mRNA-1273 yesterday. The trial, conducted by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, showed signs that the candidate elicits antibodies at levels comparable to those found in the blood of dozens of patients who have recovered from COVID-19, caused by the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2).…