J&J Partners With Emergent to Produce COVID-19 Vaccine

Johnson & Johnson is partnering with Emergent Biosolutions to scale up manufacturing of a  COVID-19 vaccine.

J&J aims to produce more than 1 billion doses for worldwide distribution and the joint effort is the first in a series of global collaborations designed to accelerate manufacturing of a COVID-19 vaccine (DID, March 31).

Under the agreement, Emergent will provide manufacturing services, supported by investments from J&J, beginning in 2020. The move will reserve large-scale manufacturing capacity for commercial production of the vaccine beginning next year.

The companies are still negotiating a long-term agreement for large-scale manufacturing of a substance that will be needed for the vaccine. The manufacturing is anticipated to begin in 2021 at Emergent’s vaccine manufacturing facility in Baltimore.

J&J is also increasing manufacturing capabilities outside of the U.S. It is preparing for clinical vaccine production at its facility in Leiden, the Netherlands, so it can begin a phase 1 clinical trial by September. — Jordan Williams