J&J hits vaccine production hurdles, The New York Times reports

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Johnson & Johnson‘s

Covid-19 Vaccine Shows Massive promise as a pathway out of the worst of this pandemic. It is delivered as a single dose, without the maximum storage requirements for vaccines from

Pfizer

And the

modernAnd the

It could accelerate global pollination if proven effective.

But on Wednesday, The New York Times reported that the company faces delays in manufacturing the vaccine That made it two months behind its initial production schedule. The report comes amid growing anticipation for data from a Phase 3 vaccine trial conducted by Johnson & Johnson (stock ticker: JNJ), To be expected in the coming weeks.

Alex Gorsky, CEO of Johnson & Johnson, speaking at JP Morgan’s healthcare investor conference on Monday, said the company aims to provide “hundreds of millions of doses” of the vaccine in the first half of this year, and “nearly a billion” By the end of the year.

“We are still on the right track to achieve these volumes,” said Gorsky. “Once again, we’re working day and night to see what else we can do to speed this up more effectively, safely, compliant, and high quality.”

But according to a New York Times report released on Wednesday, the company has defaulted on production pledges it made for the federal government’s Warp Speed ​​Operation.

Under the terms of that deal, Announced in AugustThe company agreed to deliver 100 million doses of its vaccine to the United States government for $ 1 billion. The company did not disclose specific time targets for production at the time, but the New York Times reported on Wednesday that it was supposed to have 12 million doses ready by the end of February.

The Times says the production schedule is now two months late. A Johnson & Johnson official interviewed by The Times has not commented on the production, but an official in Operation Warp Speed ​​confirmed the paper’s delay. The Times reported that the company is now expected to catch up with the original production schedule by the end of April. By that time, it had planned to deliver over 60 million doses.

The company said in a statement: “It is too early to go into the details of supplying the vaccine candidate for us, as we do not have phase 3 data yet, and we have not applied or been granted an emergency use license.” Barron Wednesday. “We are still in active discussions with the regulators, including approval and verification of our manufacturing processes.” The company said that production has started, and that it is confident of its ability to fulfill its obligations to governments, and that it expects to make more details available “after some of these steps are achieved.”

Johnson & Johnson shares fell 0.5 percent in early trade. The stock has gained 7% in the past 12 months.

Write to Josh Nathan Kazis at [email protected]