CordenPharma, a full-service contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) for the supply of APIs, drug products and pharmaceutical packaging, has signed an amendment to its existing manufacturing agreement with Moderna, a clinical stage biotech developing messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics and vaccines. The extension enables CordenPharma to manufacture large-scale volumes of Moderna’s lipid excipients to be used in the manufacture of Moderna’s vaccine candidate (mRNA-1273) against the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2).
 
Under the terms of the agreement, the companies will further extend their supply relationship by expanding the manufacturing agreement originally signed in 2016 between Moderna and CordenPharma Switzerland. The amended agreement now includes CordenPharma Chenôve and CordenPharma Colorado for the manufacture of larger-scale volumes of lipids, while continuing to draw upon CordenPharma Switzerland’s specialized lipid manufacturing. The expanded agreement will begin immediately in order to rapidly meet Moderna’s increasing demand over the upcoming months, with an emphasis on securing their future long-term supply.
 
“We are pleased to extend our agreement with CordenPharma,” said Juan Andres, Moderna’s chief technical operations and quality officer, Moderna. “This expansion will increase supply of lipid excipients used to manufacture our mRNA products. We appreciate CordenPharma’s global presence and CDMO expertise as we scale manufacturing of mRNA-1273.”
 
Michael Quirmbach, president and chief executive officer, CordenPharma, “We are thrilled to extend our long-term agreement to help support Moderna by leveraging our strong global network of GMP manufacturing facilities across Europe and the U.S. to supply the immediate need of lipid excipients for their coronavirus vaccine. We are hopeful Moderna’s technology represents a positive impact for people suffering from COVID-19 across the globe, and we are honored to contribute to the industry as a whole.”