As we announced at the end of June, Novasep, the French and European leader in the production of viral vectors, has been chosen for the European production of the active ingredient in the University of Oxford vaccine against coronavirus. The vaccine will therefore be slightly Belgian, since production operations will be carried out on Novasep's site in Seneffe. And this is good news for employment in Wallonia, as the French company plans to boost the number of jobs at its Hainaut site from 80 (in 2016) to 400 by 2021. Eighty posts are currently vacant and new investments are planned.
Since 2016, the French company's Seneffe site has thus seen the number of its "industrial and non-relocatable" jobs increase from 80, to reach 400 by 2021. Of the eighty posts currently open, 30 are mainly in the production operator sector, more specifically the production of the COVID-19 vaccine.
The partnership with the pharmaceutical group AstraZeneca is consistent with the strategy to supply this vaccine, developed in partnership with the University of Oxford, to Europe in 2021. The Scientific Advisory Committee decided last August that Belgium could opt to purchase the vaccine produced by this pharmaceutical group. "We are ready for production," Novasep was assured. "The production phase will be very important at the Seneffe site."
Novasep brings to AstraZeneca more than 20 years of expertise in the production of viral vectors. The company's offer includes a complete range of services for viral vectors for cell and gene therapy, immunotherapy and vaccination, from process development to production. It also offers sterile vial filling for viral vectors, attenuated and live viruses, monoclonal antibodies, plasmids and other biologics. However, Novasep will not bottle the anti-COVID-19 virus.
