Sealed Mobius® CellReady 3L Single-use Bioreactor made by Merck Millipore for cell cultures, from the Jenner Institute of the type used during the early development for the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine

Once the genetic code of COVID-19 was released on 12 January 2020, scientists including Sarah Gilbert, Professor Vaccinology, at the University of Oxford, immediately set to work, on designing a vaccine. Table-top bioreactors, like this one, are used to grow vaccines in very small batches. On the 6th of March 2020, the Production Team started small-scale manufacture of the Oxford team’s vaccine known as ChAdOx1 nCoV-19. After several stages of cell growth, harvesting and purification the first vials were filled on 2nd April 2020. After rigorous checks, the first volunteers were injected with the vaccine on 23 April 2020. On 30 April 2020, Oxford University signed a deal with pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca to mass-produce the vaccine. This included a clause that no profit would be made from providing the vaccine to low-income countries. Large scale clinical trials followed before the vaccine was approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) on 30th December 2020. 5 days later, Brian Pinker was the first person to receive a dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine. Over 3 billion doses have been delivered worldwide.