Mapi Pharma earmarks space for vaccine production facility

Mapi Pharma Ltd., a late clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, plans to dedicate production capacity at its Jerusalem Har-Hotzim manufacturing facility for upcoming Covid-19 vaccines destined for Israel, the European Union and other potential locations.

The company’s GMP facility is audited by the Israeli Ministry of Health, with approvals that are mutually recognized by the EU, thus exempting Israeli manufacturers from the requirement to perform laboratory tests on shipments heading to Europe.

Mapi has invested more than $100 million to expand its Jerusalem fill & finish facility, a unit that originally was established by Johnson & Johnson to supply J&J’s own needs of sterile products. Mapi now is adding a new line for sterile filling and finishing of liquids and powders for injections.

“We are making available our production capacity, as well as our cold chain and storage capacities, for the delivery of vaccines to Israel and EU,” Ehud Marom, chairman and CEO of Mapi, said in a statement. “By making our manufacturing capacity available, we hope to assist in the quick deployment of vaccines once they are approved by the heath authorities.”

Mapi is headquartered in Israel, with R&D operations in Israel and China, an active pharmaceutical ingredient production facility in the Neot-Hovav Eco Industrial Park near Beer Sheva, Israel, and an aseptic manufacturing and fill & finish facility in Jerusalem.