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Mainz (dpa) - The Mainz company Biontech has started production of its corona vaccine in its new plant in Marburg, Hesse.
As a first step, the messenger substance mRNA will be produced, the company announced on Wednesday.
A few days ago, Biontech had received the pharmaceutical approval for this.
In the first half of 2021, 250 million doses of the vaccine are to be manufactured in Marburg by Biontech and its US partner Pfizer.
The first vaccines manufactured at the Marburg site are expected to be delivered in early April, according to the company.
As soon as the plant is fully operational, Biontech plans to produce up to 750 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine there annually.
The new location in Central Hesse is an important pillar in the efforts of Biontech and Pfizer to increase global production capacity to two billion doses of the vaccine this year.
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The messenger molecule mRNA is said to be the actual active ingredient in the vaccine.
In Marburg, it is cleaned, concentrated and finally placed in a protective layer of lipids in further steps.
In this way, the sensitive mRNA can better reach the cells and develop its effect there.
Biontech finally wants to transport the manufactured vaccine to a production partner, where it is to be bottled and finished.
The production process is accompanied by several quality checks, as Biontech further explained.
The individual production steps of the new systems must therefore be approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
Corresponding data would be submitted in February and March.
According to the information, the quality of the end product is checked by the company's own laboratory in Idar-Oberstein in Rhineland-Palatinate and by the Paul Ehrlich Institute (PEI) in Langen, Hesse, before the vaccine is finally approved for use.
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Biontech had taken over the plant from the Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis.
The location is on historical ground, on the site of the former Behring works.
Around ten companies currently employ around 6500 people, including CSL Behring, GSK Vaccines and Siemens Healthineers.
Among other things, drugs against blood clotting disorders and various vaccines such as diphtheria and tetanus are manufactured.
More than 100 years ago it was so-called healing serums that made the place a beacon of hope in the fight against infectious diseases.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210210-99-378962 / 2
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