COVID vaccine manufacturer taking 'go forward' approach to shots

John Chiminski, the CEO of Catalent Pharma Solutions, which manufactures COVID-19 vaccines for Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca, described last year’s supply chain challenges and how his company overcame them. He also provided insight as to how his company is preparing for increased expected demand as booster shots gain traction. 

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
MRNA	MODERNA INC.	41.39	-0.75	-1.78%
JNJ	JOHNSON & JOHNSON	152.04	-1.24	-0.81%
AZN	ASTRAZENECA PLC	65.83	+0.55	+0.83%

During an exclusive interview on "Mornings with Maria" Monday, the morning his company’s latest quarterly results were revealed, Chiminski said his company is taking a "go forward" approach to COVID-19 vaccines, adding that the manufacturer is ramping up capacity to account for the booster shots. 

"Things are moving along better now," Chiminski said. "It was really a challenge last year from a supply chain standpoint." 

He went on to note that Catalent "literally had to stand up a factory in nine months." 

"We brought in 30 tons of under-isolator gilling equipment from Germany and had it installed and got it up and running in April," he continued. 

"So I would say [during] the early days [of the pandemic], it was quite an effort, but things are getting better now and we’re prepared to sustainably supply vaccines on a go-forward basis along with booster shots." 

Chiminski added that his company has been "adding capacity as quickly as we can." 

"We’ll continue to add capacity as necessary to be able to meet the needs of our customers for vaccines and boosters," he went on to say. 

Federal officials are weighing considerations to administer COVID-19 vaccine booster shots five months after the initial series, or three months sooner than initially planned, President Biden said Friday, citing the recommendation by the Israeli prime minister.

The week before, the nation’s top health officials said the U.S. was prepared to begin offering booster shots to Americans beginning Sept. 20, pending FDA review. Under the plan, the shots would be offered to individuals whose second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine was eight months ago.

Chiminski provided the insight into his company as Catalent reported "extraordinary results" for the fourth quarter. The company reported an increase in profit that surpassed Wall Street’s expectations. According to the company’s earnings report, overall organic net revenue growth was 26% for the quarter. 

"Catalent has had a record year this year," Chiminski said. 

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
CTLT	CATALENT INC.	59.31	+0.15	+0.25%

On Monday, Catalent also announced an agreement to acquire supplement maker Bettera Holdings.

The deal to buy the gummy vitamins maker for $1 billion in cash will Catalent to expand in the nutritional supplements market, Reuters reported. 

"The growth of the gummy category has been nothing short of astounding," Catalent noted, adding that the deal is expected to generate "about $150 million worth of revenue." 

"It’s got very attractive margins and it’s something that fits very well in the Catalent portfolio that’s well-diversified from our gene and cell therapies, our biologics all the way through our consumer health products where we have franchises that you would recognize in the store," he added. 

Fox News’ Kayla Rivas contributed to this report.