Swiss Pharmaceutical Company Receives Approval to Produce Moderna Vaccine

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[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] Swiss pharmaceutical company Lonza, which contracted with Moderna to produce the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine, has received production approval from the Swiss medicines regulatory authority Swissmedic, local newspaper SonntagsZeitung reported on the 3rd (local time).

A Lonza spokesperson said, "Important preparations for large-scale production are already underway." They added that the vaccine can be shipped as soon as approval for use is obtained from the European Union (EU) medicines regulatory authority.

Headquartered in Basel, Lonza signed a COVID-19 vaccine production contract with the U.S. biotech company Moderna in May last year and is currently producing the vaccine at a factory in the United States.

Lonza has production facilities in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, USA, and Visp, Switzerland, with the Swiss factory capable of producing 800,000 doses per day.

Earlier, the United States and Canada approved the use of the Moderna vaccine last month. Switzerland approved the use of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine in December last year and is currently reviewing Moderna's approval application.

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