Drug firm bares Covid vaccine

MULTINATIONAL drug firm Johnson & Johnson has announced that it has a new candidate vaccine that could potentially be used to cure the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

In a statement, Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals, together with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (Barda) under the United States Department of Health and Human Services, said that it began its research and development of the vaccine when the gene sequence of the novel coronavirus became available in January.

The company is aiming for a Phase 1 clinical study in September this year, and when data on its clinical safety and immunogenicity becomes available by end-2020, the vaccine would become available for emergency use early next year.

The normal vaccine process can take five to seven years of research before a candidate could be approved.

“The world is facing an urgent public health crisis and we are committed to doing our part to make a Covid-19 vaccine available and affordable globally as quickly as possible.” Johnson & Johnson Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Alex Gorsky said.

The company, together with Barda, is committing $1 billion to co-fund vaccine research, development and clinical testing

It also announced that it would expand its global manufacturing capacity, including an additional vaccine manufacturing site in the US, to assist in the rapid production of the vaccine and ensure a stable supply vaccine globally.

Johnson & Johnson plans to produce more than 1 billion doses of the vaccine.