Moderna Inc. (NASDAQ: MRNA) has announced that its manufacturing partners for CIOVID19 vaccine outside the US are experiencing delays because of lab testing challenges that happened in recent days.
Moderna rectifies supply chain issues for the COVID-19 vaccine
While the issue has been fixed, a company spokesperson said in an email that it had halted the release of Moderna’s vaccine to other markets outside the United States. According to her email, the situation will result in short-term changes to vaccination distribution outside of the United States.
Moderna spokesperson Colleen Hussey said the company is now shipping vaccine as it is made, which means there is no excess stock in store to smooth the current supply shortages.
South Korean prime minister said that the company had informed the country regarding changes in vaccine supply schedule which are inevitable because of manufacturing setback challenges. Earlier, the company had reported delays in its late-July vaccine shipments to the country I to August because of the supply problems that also affected other countries.
Moderna said in a statement, “We will remain in close contact with governments, recognizing the importance of delivery planning for vaccination roll-out. In addition, Moderna and its manufacturing partners are working together to minimize this shortfall across all impacted nations.”
Moderna experiencing issues with European production partners
Most importantly, its partners outside the US include Laboratorios Farmaceuticas Rovi SA in Spain, which fills the vials, and Lonza Group Ag, which manufactures the vaccine substance. The supply challenges are associated with manufacturing issues at Lonza and Laboratorios Farmaceuticas Rovi. However, Moderna hasn’t specified which of the two firms is experiencing problems.
Moderna stated that vaccine manufacturing increase is not a linear path, and despite the company’s best efforts, there are shortfalls in previously estimated doses. The drugmaker added that the vaccine production process is highly complex and various elements, including material resources and human resources, were responsible for the current volatility.
