Croda strikes deal with Pfizer to supply COVID-19 vaccine additives

(Reuters) - Croda International <CRDA.L> has entered into a deal with Pfizer Inc <PFE.N> to supply additives for manufacturing its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, the UK-based specialty chemical company said on Tuesday, sending its shares to a record high.

The contract with Pfizer 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, Croda said.

The deal comes a day after Pfizer said its experimental vaccine was more than 90% effective in preventing COVID-19 based on initial data from a large study, a major victory in the fight against a pandemic that has killed over 1 million people, roiled the world's economy and upended daily life.

Croda said the contract could be worth $100 million in 2021, if Pfizer's estimated vaccine doses become required. Pfizer has said it expects to produce up to 1.3 billion doses of the vaccine in 2021.

Excipients are substances that serve as the vehicle or medium for a drug or other active substance to be delivered, and help in the formulation of stable dosage forms and in their administration.

Shares of Croda were trading up nearly 10% at 6,800 pence.

(Reporting by Aakash Jagadeesh Babu in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)