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Johnson & Johnson Partners with U.S. Government on COVID-19 Vaccine Development

April 2, 2020
The New Jersey-based healthcare giant ambitiously aims for an emergency rollout of its strongest vaccine candidate in January 2021.

Johnson & Johnson said March 31 that it had arranged a partnership with an arm of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to continue development on a vaccine to prevent COVID-19. Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies, a division of Johnson & Johnson, will work with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, or BARDA, to fund and quickly test what J&J says is their leading candidate for a coronavirus vaccine.

According to Johnson & Johnson, researchers began development of possible vaccines in January, after coronavirus’s genetic sequencing became available to researchers. Janssen’s research was conducted in collaboration with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical at Harvard Medical School, and eventually yielded one lead candidate with a promising immune response and two backup candidates. J&J’s partnership with BARDA will supply the company with half of the $1 billion capital needed to expedite testing and manufacturing of the drug.

Following an “accelerated” timeline, J&J anticipates the vaccine could begin Phase 1 clinical trials as early as September of this year. If those trials are successful, that time frame could allow an emergency deployment of the virus as early as January 2021—a stunning turnaround for a vaccine. Eyes set on that difficult mark, Johnson & Johnson is already beginning to ramp up production of the candidate vaccine with a stated goal of producing more than a billion doses.

Alex Gorsky, CEO of Johnson & Johnson, in a statement, said that he and J&J were “committed to doing our part to make a COVID-19 vaccine available and affordable globally as quickly as possible.” He said “the world’s largest healthcare company” was “well positioned” to help drive the fight against the pandemic.

Dr. Paul Stoffels, Chief Scientific Officer at the company, expressed gratitude for the government’s support. “Our teams are working tirelessly alongside BARDA, scientific partners, and global health authorities,” he said in a statement.

About the Author

EHS Today Staff

EHS Today's editorial staff includes:

Dave Blanchard, Editor-in-Chief: During his career Dave has led the editorial management of many of Endeavor Business Media's best-known brands, including IndustryWeekEHS Today, Material Handling & LogisticsLogistics Today, Supply Chain Technology News, and Business Finance. In addition, he serves as senior content director of the annual Safety Leadership Conference. With over 30 years of B2B media experience, Dave literally wrote the book on supply chain management, Supply Chain Management Best Practices (John Wiley & Sons, 2021), which has been translated into several languages and is currently in its third edition. He is a frequent speaker and moderator at major trade shows and conferences, and has won numerous awards for writing and editing. He is a voting member of the jury of the Logistics Hall of Fame, and is a graduate of Northern Illinois University.

Adrienne Selko, Senior Editor: In addition to her roles with EHS Today and the Safety Leadership Conference, Adrienne is also a senior editor at IndustryWeek and has written about many topics, with her current focus on workforce development strategies. She is also a senior editor at Material Handling & Logistics. Previously she was in corporate communications at a medical manufacturing company as well as a large regional bank. She is the author of Do I Have to Wear Garlic Around My Neck?, which made the Cleveland Plain Dealer's best sellers list.

Nicole Stempak, Managing Editor:  Nicole Stempak is managing editor of EHS Today and conference content manager of the Safety Leadership Conference.

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