Wockhardt in deal to supply vaccines to UK

Company reserves fill-and-finish capacity as part of agreement

Indian drugmaker Wockhardt Ltd will supply millions of doses of multiple Covid-19 vaccines, including that being developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, under a deal with the UK government announced yesterday.

Shares of Wockhardt jumped 10% after the news in a downcast Mumbai market. The company has reserved fill-andfinish capacity — the final manufacturing step of putting vaccines into vials or syringes and packaging them — as part of the agreement, it said.

This is the latest step by the UK to secure supplies and production of Covid-19 vaccines after striking four deals with drugmakers to buy their potential shots.

“Fill finish is a critical step in the process to get the vaccine in a form to be given to patients. The agreement with Wockhardt will boost our capability to ensure that,” Kate Bingham, chair of UK Vaccines Task Force, said in a statement.

The UK government has also reserved one fill-and-finish production line at a Wockhardt subsidiary in Wrexham, Wales for its exclusive use for the next 18 months to secure supply. It is expected to start the Wexham line in September. AstraZeneca has indicated it would need 30 million fill-and-finish doses of their vaccine candidate, which the company intends to supply in the next few months, Wockhardt Chairman Habil Khorakiwala said during a virtual press briefing.