Johnson & Johnson Clinches Coronavirus Vaccine Deal With US Government: $1B, 100M Doses

Johnson & Johnson JNJ has become the latest large-cap biopharma company to strike a deal with the U.S. government to supply the coronavirus vaccine it has in development. 

What Happened: J&J said Wednesday that it has entered into an agreement with the U.S. government for large-scale domestic manufacturing and supply of 100 million doses of Ad26.COV2.S, the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine being developed by its Janssen unit, once it is approved or issued Emergency Use Authorization by the FDA.

The agreement also provides for the company receiving $1 billion from BARDA and the U.S. Department of Defense.

The U.S. government may also purchase incremental doses of the vaccine under a subsequent agreement, J&J said.

The company said Ad26.COV2.S will be provided on a global not-for-profit basis for emergency pandemic use.

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The Pfizer Inc. PFE/BioNTech SE – ADR BNTX combine, AstraZeneca plc AZN/Oxford University and Sanofi SA SNY/GlaxoSmithKline plc GSK have also agreements in place to supply vaccines to the government.

What's Next: J&J has been collaborating with the BARDA on the development of Ad26.COV2.S. Following positive preclinical studies, both single and two-dose regiments of the vaccine candidate are being evaluated in a Phase 1/2a study in healthy volunteers in the U.S. and Belgium.

The company said it is on track to meet its goal of supplying over 1 billion doses of the vaccine globally through the course of 2021, provided it is found safe and effective.

JNJ Price Action: At last check, J&J shares were adding 0.85% to $148.47.

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