CSL begins production in Australia of the vaccine candidate developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca.
The CSL Behring biotech manufacturing facility in Broadmeadows has started to manufacture a potential COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccine candidate is currently being manufactured alongside an ongoing clinical trial.
CSL is also manufacturing another COVID-19 candidate known as UQ-CSL V451, developed with the University of Queensland in Australia.
“There’s still a long way to go and our first priority resolutely remains the safety and efficacy of the vaccines we produce,” CSL Chief Scientific Officer Andrew Nash said. According to the statement from the company, both vaccines were being produced in parallel with the clinical trials “in recognition of the significant urgency of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
According to CSL, with the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine candidate, the manufacturing process at the Broadmeadows facility begins will the thaw of vials containing vaccine cells.
‘The cells – frozen under liquid nitrogen to preserve their integrity – need to be thawed in preparation for replication in the bioreactors. After growing in the bioreactors, the vaccine is then filtered and purified, leaving just the antigen, or vaccine product. It is then ready for final formulation and filling into dosage vials.’
Currently the company has separate contracts with AstraZeneca and the Australian government to produce approximately 30 million doses of the AZD1222 vaccine candidate for the Australian population, with first doses planned for release in the first half of 2021, pending the outcome of clinical trials and regulatory approval.
