Croda International reveals contract win with Pfizer

Shares in speciality chemical company Croda International have leapt after it said it has won a supply contract with Pfizer, the drugmaker that has made a breakthrough on a Covid-19 vaccine.

The FTSE 100 company said it has recently entered into an agreement with Pfizer to supply novel excipients used in the manufacture of a Covid-19 vaccine candidate.

Excipients are substances which treatments, such as vaccines, are combined with ahead of being supplied. If Pfizer's publicly indicated vaccine doses for 2021 were to be required, the sales value of Croda's contract in 2021 could worth $100 million.

Details of the contract come a day after Pfizer’s chief executive Albert Bourla updated on a “first but critical step” in the drugmaker’s work to “deliver a safe and effective vaccine”.  

Shares in Croda, which also supplies active ingredients for shampoos and skin care products, increased 452p, or 7.26%, to 6674p.

Steve Foots, chief executive of Croda, said: “The application of our innovative capabilities is testament to the strong progress we have made to create industry-leading drug delivery systems, focused on developing speciality excipients and adjuvants to improve the effectiveness and stability of complex drug actives and vaccines.”

The contract runs for five years and awards Croda an initial supply contract for four component excipients used in the production of the vaccine candidate for the first three years of the contract. Demand remains subject to relevant approvals.