“New York Times” reported that Johnson & Johnson hits barriers to vaccine production

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The Covid-19 vaccine offers broad prospects for getting rid of the worst epidemic.Provided as a single dose, not from

Pfizer

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If it proves effective, it can speed up the global vaccination rate.

But on Wednesday, the “New York Times” reported that the company was facing delays in producing the vaccine, which delayed the vaccine by two months from its original production plan. When the report is released, people are increasingly looking forward to data from the Phase 3 trial of the vaccine by Johnson & Johnson (stock code: JNJ), which is expected in the next few weeks.

Johnson & Johnson CEO Alex Gorsky said at a JP Morgan medical investor meeting on Monday that the company’s goal is to provide “hundreds of millions of doses” of vaccines in the first half of this year. Nearly 1 billion doses”. By the end of this year.

Gorski said: “We are still on track to achieve these goals.” “Again, we are working around the clock to see what else we can do to further accelerate this speed in an effective, safe, compliant, and high-quality manner. “

However, according to a report in the New York Times on Wednesday, the company lags behind in terms of production commitments made to the federal government’s “Warp Speed ​​Action”.

According to the terms of the deal announced in August, the company agreed to deliver 100 million doses of vaccine to the US government at a price of $1 billion. The company did not disclose specific production schedule targets at the time, but the New York Times reported on Wednesday that the drug was originally scheduled to produce 12 million doses by the end of February.

The Times said that the current production plan has been delayed by two months. The Johnson & Johnson officials interviewed by The Times did not make any comments on the production, but the officials of Operation Warp Speed ​​confirmed the delay of the paper. According to the Times, the company is now expected to catch up with the initial production schedule by the end of April. By then, it plans to provide more than 60 million doses.

The company said in a statement: “The details of the supply of candidate vaccines are not yet known because we do not have the data for Phase 3, nor have we applied for or obtained emergency use authorization.” Barron on Wednesday. “We are still in active discussions with regulatory agencies, including the approval and confirmation of our manufacturing process.” The company said that production has begun and it is confident that it can fulfill its commitments to the government and hopes “after some of these steps are achieved. “Provide more details.

Johnson & Johnson shares fell 0.5% in early trading. In the past 12 months, the stock has risen 7%.

Write to Josh Nathan-Kazis (Josh Nathan-Kazis) Email: josh.nathan-kazis@barrons.com