COVID-19 Vaccine Update

Since the COVID-19 (coronavirus) sequence was made available in January 2020, Johnson & Johnson has been working tirelessly to research possible vaccine candidates to help the world combat this pandemic. We can now announce that a lead vaccine candidate, and two back-ups, have been identified with phase 1 human clinical studies to start at the latest by September 2020. We anticipate the first batches of a COVID-19 vaccine could be available for emergency use in early 2021, a substantially accelerated timeframe in comparison to the typical vaccine development process of five to seven years.

Through a landmark new partnership, we are working with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) and together we are committing more than $1 billion (€910 million) to this novel vaccine research and development.

Along with BARDA, we are also increasing funding that will enable expansion of our ongoing work to identify potential antiviral treatments against COVID-19. This work started in February 2020 and includes the screening of existing compounds, including those of other pharmaceutical companies.

We are rapidly upscaling our manufacturing capacity with the goal of providing global supply of more than one billion doses of the vaccine. This includes the establishment of new U.S. vaccine manufacturing capabilities and scaling up capacity in other countries. We plan to begin production of this novel vaccine at risk imminently and we are committed to bringing an affordable vaccine to the public on a not-for-profit basis for emergency pandemic use.

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 as quickly as possible. As the world’s largest healthcare company, there is no higher priority than patient health and we will remain on the front lines of this global pandemic, bringing our full resources and minds to combat it.