Cobra Biologics to Manufacture AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate

Cobra Biologics, part of the Cognate BioServices family, has signed a supply agreement with AstraZeneca UK Ltd. to provide GMP manufacture of the adenovirus vector-based COVID-19 vaccine candidate AZD1222, previously known as ChAdOx1 n-CoV-19, Cobra announced in a June 16, 2020 press release. The production agreement is part of AstraZeneca’s program with the University of Oxford to ensure broad and equitable supply of the vaccine throughout the world, at no profit, during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Cobra, along with other consortium members, will be manufacturing the vaccine, with first deliveries to begin in the United Kingdom in September 2020. Cobra is part of a consortium with the Jenner Institute, University of Oxford, and others, to rapidly develop, scale-up, and produce the recombinant adenovirus vector. Cobra says that it is bringing three additional viral vector suites online as part of its ongoing expansion program for advanced therapies.