Oxford BioMedica PLC on Friday said it has signed a new three year agreement with AstraZeneca PLC, which will facilitate potential future manufacturing opportunities for the FTSE 100-listed drugmaker’s Covid-19 vaccine.

The Oxford, England-based gene and cell therapy company said that the agreement is an extension of the original 18-month supply & development agreement signed back in September 2020 between the two companies.

Oxford BioMedica added that the manufacture of Covid-19 vaccines at its Oxbox facility is expected to complete in the last quarter of 2022. In accordance with the terms of the original agreement and inclusive of revenue for batches already manufactured in the first half, Oxford Biomedica expects to recognise revenue of £30 million from AstraZeneca in the current financial year.

Under the new agreement, manufacturing of vaccines at Oxford Biomedica’s manufacturing facility will be available to AstraZeneca on an as-needed basis beyond 2022.

Chair & Interim Chief Executive Roch Doliveux said: ‘I am proud of the work of all our colleagues at Oxford Biomedica that has enabled us to deliver more than 100 million doses of lifesaving COVID-19 vaccine. While contributing to the efforts to fight the pandemic, this has also demonstrated Oxford Biomedica’s ability to expand the scope of our innovative process development services and deliver high-performing manufacturing solutions beyond lentiviral vectors.

‘We look forward to continuing to work closely with AstraZeneca and execute on our strategy to become a global leader across all viral vectors, enabling Cell and Gene Therapy companies to deliver their life-changing therapies to patients,’ Doliveux added.

Shares in Oxford BioMedica were up 3.2% to 468.50 pence each in London on Friday morning.

Copyright 2022 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.