'Giving It Their All' | Maryland Company Ready To Manufacture Potential Coronavirus Vaccines
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- A Maryland company said it's ready to manufacture multiple potential coronavirus vaccines.
Emergent BioSolutions manufactures drugs like Narcan and was involved in the Ebola response. Now, the Baltimore manufacturing facility will be involved with two companies hoping to develop a coronavirus vaccine.
"Our people certainly feel that level of responsibility and they're giving it their all," Emergent's senior vice president Syed Husain said.
The company's Gaithersburg site will work on development for two companies that may be vaccine candidates, while its Baltimore plant will manufacture the drugs.
"We've been built for this," Husain said. "The sense of urgency has always been there and it's heightened at this time, and this is where our experience really comes together."
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Emergent's first step is providing clinical trial materials. Regulatory agencies will make sure any vaccine is safe.
"(We're working) as fast as possible, but what's most important to make sure the vaccine, in this case, is safe and it's efficacious," Husain said.
Researchers caution, though, that it will likely be at least a year before any vaccine is available to the public."
Everyone wants to ensure a timeline is done as fast as possible. There's been indications of 12-18 months. I think that is an appropriate and fair timeline for what the experts have provided," Husain said.
An experimental coronavirus vaccine was administered earlier this week to human subjects in Seattle, CBS News reports, one of dozens of projects underway worldwide.
For the latest information on coronavirus go to the Maryland Health Department's website or call 211. You can find all of WJZ's coverage on coronavirus in Maryland here.
