Contract research company Albany Molecular Research Inc (AMRI) said on Thursday that it has been selected to support the development and manufacture of lipid excipients for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.

AMRI now joins the network of approved manufacturers of lipid excipients to increase the supply of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine.

In addition, AMRI has been providing development, scale-up and manufacturing services at a number of its global R&D and production sites, demonstrating operational flexibility and expertise to deliver capacity for lipid excipient supply for the vaccine at unprecedented speed to support the programme. This critical lipid excipient surrounds and protects the vaccine's active ingredient.

According to CEO John Ratliff, AMRI is committed to playing a vital role in ending this pandemic, from our work in support of antivirals and vaccines to the continued production of essential medicines used for COVID-19 patients.