Drugmaker ramping up production of potential coronavirus vaccine in record time

Drugmaker ramping up production of potential coronavirus vaccine in record time "That process would generally be measured in years ... So it was a sprint, to say the least." Charlie D'Agata cbseveningnews

Drugmaker AstraZeneca's potential coronavirus vaccine is now in advanced trials, and the company says it has the capacity to make 3 billion doses when the vaccine is ready. But even before the final phase of testing and government approval, the vaccine is on a massive manufacturing drive.

"In that particular process you will be making millions of vaccines," said Pall Corporation's director of strategy Dr. Clive Glover. 

The challenge is how to scale-up from a small vial of vaccine to billions of doses, and quickly. 

"That process would generally be measured in years, and five years is not unusual," Glover told CBS News. "We were able to design the process, get our equipment into one of our manufacturing partners and run the initial process within eight weeks." ...

The Oxford vaccine is one of several leading candidates. Others include formulas in development by Moderna and Pfizer/BioNtech. Russia's vaccine has skipped large-scale Phase III testing, offering inoculation to anyone who chooses to have one. ...