The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Defense this week announced an agreement with Cytiva to expand the company’s manufacturing capacity for products that are essential in producing COVID-19 vaccines.
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, collaborated with the DoD Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense (JPEO-CBRND) and Army Contracting Command, to provide approximately $31 million to Cytiva for vaccine-related consumable products, such as liquid and dry powder cell culture media, cell culture buffers, mixer bags, and XDR bioreactors.
Under the agreement, the company will expand manufacturing capacity in the company’s Massachusetts facilities and create duplicate capabilities in Cytiva’s Utah facilities to be complete in less than 12 months. Currently, the company only manufactures consumables in Massachusetts.
Cytiva is a major manufacturer of pharmaceutical consumables and hardware products and the primary supplier to many of the companies currently working with the U.S. government to develop COVID-19 vaccines. This capacity expansion will help Cytiva respond to the demand for COVID-19 vaccine consumables and hardware products without impacting on current manufacturing output.
The agreement with Cytiva is the latest to increase manufacturing capacity in the United States to aid in developing, manufacturing, and administering COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics.
To date, the federal government has obligated a total of more than $1.1 billion to purchase needles, syringes, vials and supply kits, and to expand the capacity to manufacture these ancillary supplies and the fill-finish manufacturing capacity in the United States for COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics. HHS and DOD are working with Becton Dickinson, Corning Pharmaceutical Technologies, Goldbelt Security, Marathon Medical, Retractable Technologies Inc., SiO2, ApiJect, Smiths Medical, and Thermo Fisher Scientific. BARDA also is working with its Centers for Innovation in Advanced Development and Manufacturing in Maryland and Texas to expand vaccine manufacturing capacity for federal vaccine development partners.
