US Government Offers $75M Support For Lipid Systems Expansion Used In mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines - Croda International (OTC:COIHY)

The U.S. government will provide up to $75 million to expand U.K.-listed Croda International Plc's COIHF U.S. manufacturing capacity of ingredients for lipid systems used in novel therapeutic drugs, such as mRNA vaccines.
Croda will also invest up to $58 million.
The investment will be used to establish a new lipid facility in Lamar, Pennsylvania. Construction is expected to start later this year, with the new capacity anticipated in 2025.
The investment supports the expansion of Croda's portfolio, by creating a third manufacturing site for lipid systems, alongside Croda's existing Alabaster, Alabama, U.S. (Avanti) and Leek, U.K. capabilities.
The cooperative agreement is a joint award from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), and an arm of the U.S. Department of defense will join forces for preparedness for future health emergencies.
Financial Times writes that Pfizer Inc PFE / BioNTech SE BNTX and Moderna Inc's MRNA COVID-19 vaccines were the first approved jabs to be made with mRNA technology.
The vaccines rely on bubbles of fat known as lipid nanoparticles to deliver genetic codes that teach the immune system to recognize the virus.
Lipid systems offer significant potential as the delivery system for many nucleic acid applications, including novel mRNA-based therapeutics, such as flu vaccines and cancer treatments.
Given the current clinical development pipeline's scale, the lipid systems market is expected to grow significantly over the next ten years.
Image by Spencer Davis from Pixabay

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