While the vaccine is undergoing clinical trials, MilliporeSigma has evaluated an existing manufacturing platform for use with the new vaccine candidate, including critical processing steps. The normal process development would take six months to a year, but in just two months MilliporeSigma and the Jenner team have repurposed a previous platform to use for COVID-19 manufacturing.

MilliporeSigma is partnering with the Jenner Institute in the institute's efforts to develop a safe and effective vaccine for COVID-19. Image courtesy of MilliporeSigma.

Both companies have made investments over the last two years into the development of rapid, scalable platforms following good manufacturing practices and utilizing disposable technologies for the Jenner Institute's adenovirus platform. The initial work was developed with a rabies vaccine candidate and subsequently validated with different adenovirus constructs with the goal of accelerating future vaccine development and manufacturing.

The partnership, established in 2018, has become part of the rapid response to COVID-19 from the scientific community by accelerating large-scale manufacturing -- a critical and often time-consuming part of vaccine development.