the maryland-based manufacturer has taken heat in congress and the u.s. media for ruining 15 million doses of johnson & johnson vaccine, struggling with quality-control problems at its baltimore plant and generating spotty results from a lucrative government contract.
that collaboration has been “great,” said sorenson, whose firm made headlines earlier this year when manitoba purchased two million doses of its product in advance, independent from the federal vaccine-procurement program.
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meanwhile, the government announced it is funding a new plant that will make the same kind of mrna vaccine — once the factory is complete in three years.
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as first reported by the national post , most of the astrazeneca vaccine shipped to canada by late april was made at emergent’s maryland plant, though american authorities have not allowed any of it on to the u.s. market.
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an investigation by the u.s. house of representatives sub-committee on the coronavirus crisis has raised concerns as well about the government contract, personal stock sales by top executives and bonuses paid to them — all before any of the covid vaccine has made it into american arms.
the company’s plant in winnipeg was part of its 2013 purchase of cangene corp., a specialty pharmaceutical and contract manufacturer.
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