EU okays capacity increase at Moderna's U.S. sites

The European drugs regulator on Friday approved a ramp-up in production of active substances used to make COVID-19 shots at Moderna's sites in the United States.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) estimates the European market could get 40 million doses from Moderna's two approved U.S. facilities in the third quarter.

The agency said the approval reaffirms that the facilities - ModernaTX and Lonza Biologics - will help Moderna increase production capacity at the sites and will have a "significant" impact on the supply of the vaccine, known as Spikevax, in the EU.

EMA's human medicines committee has authorised a total of four manufacturing sites, two in the U.S. and two in Switzerland, for the production of active substances for the Moderna vaccine.