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Fierce Pharma: J&J expands COVID-19 vaccine pact with Catalent for finishing work at Italian facility

Johnson & Johnson has been on a manufacturing deal spree as it nears human trials for its COVID-19 vaccine hopeful. On the same day it inked a $480 million order from a Maryland CDMO, J&J announced it would expand its pact with another manufacturer to scale up production as fast as possible.

J&J has expanded its COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing pact with New Jersey-based Catalent to include work at the CDMO's Anagni, Italy, facility, a J&J spokesman said Monday.

New Jersey-based J&J initially tapped Catalent in April to reserve fill-finish capacity for its COVID-19 shot at its Bloomington, Indiana, plant. As part of that deal, Catalent agreed to hire an additional 300 workers at the plant starting this month, with the goal of reaching 24/7 manufacturing schedules by January.

In an email, J&J didn't specify what work Catalent would perform at the Anagni site, but the CDMO previously signed a deal with British drugmaker AstraZeneca to perform fill-finish and packaging duties for the University of Oxford's adenovirus-based COVID-19 vaccine, AZD1222.

"The latest agreement with Catalent Pharma Solutions in Italy is a continuation of our partnership and represents progress in our overall efforts," the drugmaker said.

Read the full story from Fierce Pharma.