HALIX B.V. signed an agreement with AstraZeneca for large-scale commercial drug substance manufacture of AZD1222, the adenovirus vector-based COVID-19 vaccine.

HALIX will provide commercial manufacturing of drug substance at its cGMP facility at the Leiden Bio Science Park in the Netherlands. To meet the increased demand, HALIX has expanded with two additional viral vector production lines.

HALIX continues its key role as one of the original partners in the University of Oxford’s consortium for the manufacture of AZD1222. The vaccine was co-invented by the University of Oxford and its spin-out company Vaccitech.

Alex Huybens, Chief Operations Officer, said, “Building on the solid foundations made with the University of Oxford, it’s our pleasure to expand our manufacturing support of AZD1222 with AstraZeneca. Through the consortium, the partners are bringing their collective expertise and manufacturing capabilities to support vaccine production and combat this evolving crisis.”