How Is Moderna’s Vaccine Production Scaling Up?

How Is Moderna’s Vaccine Production Scaling Up?

An illustrative photo showing medical syringes seen in front of Moderna logo displayed on screens in ... [+] the background on Christmas Eve. On Thursday, December 24, 2020, in Dublin, Ireland. (Photo illustration by Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images)



NurPhoto via Getty Images

Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA) provided updates on the manufacturing of its Covid-19 vaccine, noting that it was increasing the baseline production estimate for this year to 600 million doses, 100 million more than it had initially projected. The company also said that it was continuing to invest and add staff to potentially produce as much as 1 billion doses for the full year. This is positive news, considering that Moderna has no real manufacturing track record and has never produced or sold a commercial drug prior to the Covid-19 shot. Moreover, the mRNA technology that Moderna (and Pfizer) are using requires specialized manufacturing equipment.

Separately, Swiss regulators have reportedly allowed Moderna's contract manufacturer Lonza Group to start producing its Covid-19 vaccine at a plant in Switzerland, which will apparently have a capacity to produce 800,000 doses a day. [1] Lonza is also producing the vaccine in the U.S. at its New Hampshire facility. Once the vaccine is