SGS has signed an agreement with AstraZeneca for the provision of safety, quality control and analytical testing services in support of AZD1222—a COVID-19 vaccine candidate co-invented by the University of Oxford and its spin-out company, Vaccitech and licensed by AstraZeneca.
 
SGS will conduct vaccine bulk harvest and drug substance testing from its Biosafety Center of Excellence in Glasgow, Scotland. The recently expanded laboratory provides testing of cell banks, vaccines, gene and cell therapies, monoclonal antibodies and other recombinant protein based biological medicines, including a vaccine testing solution suitable for coronavirus.
 
“As pioneers in the development of the biosafety testing industry, our team at Glasgow’s Biosafety Center of Excellence is proud to be part of this important development program,” said Archie Lovatt, scientific operations director, biosafety, SGS. “We welcome the opportunity to join forces with AstraZeneca to provide testing in support of the AZD1222 vaccine candidate.”
 
In addition to the viral bulk harvest testing, SGS will also conduct quality control and analytical testing of the vaccine production in its laboratory in Wavre, Belgium. This site, which is qualified as a center of excellence in GMP large molecule testing, will support batch release and stability testing.