Pfizer says it will cut vaccine production time almost in half
As efficiencies increase, company aims to cut time from 110 to about 60 days, according to a published report
Pfizer told USA Today that it expects to nearly slice in half the amount of time it takes to produce a batch of Covid-19 vaccine from 110 days to an average of 60 days. This comes as it makes the process more efficient and production continues to be built out, the report notes.
Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine is made at three Pfizer plants: beginning in Chesterfield, MO, moving to Andover, MA and finishing in Kalamazoo, MI. The latest CDC numbers indicate that over 22.2 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine had been administered across the US.
Referring to it as “Project Light Speed,” Chaz Calitri, Pfizer's vice president of operations for sterile injectables, who runs the company's plant in Kalamazoo, MI, told USA Today that production has been high over the past month.
"We call this 'Project Light Speed,' and it's called that for a reason," he said. "Just in the last month, we've doubled output."
As Pharmaceutical Commerce previously reported, Pfizer and BioNTech SE, Pfizer's development partner, expect to deliver the full 200 million doses to the US via Operation Warp Speed (OWS) by July 31. Consistent with the original agreement announced in July, the US government will pay $1.95 billion for the additional 100 million doses.
