Swiss pharmaceuticals giant Novartis said Friday it had signed an initial agreement to help produce the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against Covid-19, based on mRNA technology, in Stein in Switzerland. The agreement calls for Novartis to "take bulk mRNA active ingredient from BioNTech and fill this into vials under aseptic conditions for shipment back to BioNTech for their distribution to healthcare system customers around the world," the company said in a statement. nl/vog/mjs