At the heart of its site in Marburg, Germany, BioNTech is putting the finishing touches on a new kind of factory. The drug company has spent eight months reworking its manufacturing processes to produce its mRNA covid-19 vaccine inside a set of standard shipping containers. By creating a modular approach to drug manufacturing, Ugur Sahin, BioNTech’s boss, says he aims to transform medicine production around the world.
Biological porting involves tweaking the 50,000 steps that comprise the manufacturing process of the mrna vaccine from one environment, BioNTech’s existing production lines around the world, so that they work in another, a series of connected, standard metal shipping containers. The firm plans to send its containerised mrna factories—which it calls Biontainers—to parts of the world which lack their own vaccine-manufacturing capabilities.
…
After eight months of work to get its first container factory off the ground in Marburg, BioNTech’s approach will be put to the test later this year. By the end of June, Mr Sahin says, the site at its partner country in Africa will be prepared for the arrival of the containers—BioNTech is in discussions with South Africa, Rwanda and Senegal.
