JNJ Accelerated COVID-19 Vaccine Shipment Dependent On New Plant Approval

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) is waiting on regulatory approval of a new, larger plant operated by Catalent Inc (NYSE: CTLT) to start large-scale U.S. deliveries of its recently approved single-dose COVID-19 vaccine, Reuters reports.

• J&J Chief Scientific Officer Paul Stoffels said that the company would ship around 4 million doses from a smaller plant already up and running in the U.S. this week.
• It will deliver another 16 million doses later this month.
• The next set of the shipment depends on the regulatory approvals at a new plant.
• Stoffels said the Catalent plant would receive approval in the next few days, and it would be able to supply 20 million doses of the vaccine by the end of this month.
• JNJ is also working on expanding its manufacturing capacity globally and is in talks with potential new partners. 
• Stoffels said more manufacturing deals would be announced soon.
• “Those plans include an expansion in India, where the company is working to bring on board a plant this year with a very high capacity that will “serve a very large part of the world,” Stoffels said.
• JNJ plans to roll out 1 billion doses using the existing capacity and bring them online before the end of the year.
• Price Action: JNJ shares closed 0.5% higher at $159.32, and CTLT shares closed 2.4% higher at $116.4 on Monday.