JNJ Johnson and Johnson

By Matt Grossman 

Johnson & Johnson said Monday that it had made progress on a vaccine to prevent Covid-19 and that the product could be ready in early 2021.

The New Brunswick, N.J., company selected a lead candidate for the vaccine from the constructs it had been working on, and said human trials would begin by September at the latest.

J&J said it could get approval under an emergency-use authorization to make the vaccine widely available early next year. The company said it has also chosen two back-up constructs in case the lead candidate falters.

The company said the vaccine, if successful, would be affordable and would be sold on a not-for-profit basis.

Johnson & Johnson is one of many companies at work on a vaccine for the disease, which has become a global health crisis. Moderna Inc. has begun human trials for a vaccine using a novel approach that relies on the virus's messenger RNA, a type of genetic material. Sanofi, a French biotech company, has begun work on a similar approach.

Johnson & Johnson said it would try to scale its global manufacturing capabilities to make more than 1 billion doses of a Covid-19 vaccine by the end of next year. It said it is also working with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, a part of the Department of Health and Human Services, to expand its research into a treatment for Covid-19.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 30, 2020 09:34 ET (13:34 GMT)

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