U.S. Ends $600 Million COVID-19 Vaccine Manufacturing Contract with Emergent

Following a year in which vaccine manufacturing plant Emergent BioSolutions spent many months in the headlines for botching 75 million Johnson & Johnson (J&J) COVID-19 vaccines, the federal government and the troubled company have parted ways.

Emergent — which had to throw out the vaccines after they were cross-contaminated with AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine produced at the company’s storied Bayview, Md., facility — divulged during an investors’ call late last week that the $600 million-plus contract had been terminated as of Nov. 1.

During their call with investors, Emergent executives said the termination of the contract was the result of negotiations with the government after it stopped making payments to Emergent once troubles at the Bayview plant began. Emergent halted production of the vaccines for months after the FDA raised serious quality concerns based on inspection observations.

In a statement on its website about the canceled contract, Emergent said, “These are mutually agreed-upon terminations for convenience and neither party is alleging breach of default by the other.”