BioNTech aims to supply 2B COVID-19 vaccine doses this year

BERLIN (AA) - The German pharma company BioNTech announced Monday that it is boosting its manufacturing capacity to be able to supply 2 billion doses of the coronavirus vaccine this year.

Dr. Ugur Sahin, the co-founder of BioNTech, gave details about the new investment plans of his company and its American partner Pfizer, in a presentation posted on the company's website.

“We now believe that we can potentially deliver approximately 2 billion doses in total by the end of 2021,” he said.

“This is based on continuous process improvements and expansion at our current facilities, and contingent upon adding more suppliers as well as contract manufacturers,” he noted.

BioNTech, which has developed the world’s first effective jab against COVID-19, is currently producing the vaccines together with Pfizer in three manufacturing sites in the US and two other production facilities in Europe.

Sahin said they raised their supply target from 1.3 billion to 2 billion doses, as they are planning to open a new manufacturing facility in Marburg, Germany.

The new facility, expected to become operational by the end of February, will have a capacity to produce 750 million doses annually, he added.