Corning Incorporated announced it will receive 57 million USD in additional funding from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through its partnership with the Department of Defense’s (DoD) Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense and Army Contracting Command. Under the agreement, Corning will further increase domestic manufacturing capacity of pharmaceutical glass tubing and vials to support the accelerated mass vaccination effort critical to ending the pandemic.
Corning has accelerated its advanced glass vial production capacity to support pharmaceutical manufacturers that are delivering hundreds of millions of doses of potentially life-saving vaccines. This expansion effort, to support the USA Presiden’s goal of vaccinating the majority of Americans against COVID-19 in the next few months, will increase production of Corning’s pharmaceutical glass tubing and vials, including Corning Valor® Glass vials.
Ron Verkleeren, Corning’s senior vice president and general manager, Life Sciences, said, “We’re at an inflection point in the COVID-19 response. At this critical moment, every vaccination counts, which means every vial we deliver counts. We’re proud to do our part working with the U.S. government to help ensure that enough glass is available in the supply chain. With this additional infusion of resources, we can significantly scale our tubing and vial capacity to help meet rapidly expanding demand.”
This award is in addition to the 204 million USD contract announced in June 2020, for a total of 261 million USD invested in Corning’s pharmaceutical vial and tubing manufacturing capacity. Corning has met every milestone to date under the original contract.
Corning’s innovative vials continue to set a new standard for glass quality and performance in the pharmaceutical industry. The company is committed to helping protect patients by improving pharmaceutical quality as well as helping accelerate manufacturing through advantages specific to Corning’s coated vial technology.