Leading multinational company Johnson & Johnson (J & J) will produce 1 billion coronavirus vaccines in early 2021. The company will get a massive cash injection from the United States (US) government.
On Monday (30/3), J&J revealed that the US government would invest $ 1 billion to increase the company's production capacity. The giant pharmaceutical company will begin trials on humans in September 2020.
This process is 18 months faster than the duration of time needed for the vaccine to be tested, accepted, and produced. So far, the coronavirus pandemic has killed more than 35,000 people worldwide. Several pharmaceutical companies are competing to develop mass tests and vaccines or drugs for the virus.
 |
| Credits: JnJ |
Chief scientific officer J&J Dr. Paul Stoffels said if the company would start adding to their production capacity now even before the vaccine developed by the company was accepted by the health agency.
The company will start producing vaccines at risk without knowing whether the vaccine works. "This is the only choice for us to be able to catch up with time," said Dr. Paul was quoted by the Daily Star on Monday (3/30).
J & J has a factory in the Netherlands that can produce 300 million vaccines. But that number is not enough for the world. Paul said his company began building factories in the US so that it could create vaccines at the end of the year. At that time, the data from clinical trials will show whether the vaccine is valid or not.
They will also look for other factories in Europe and Asia that can make the type of vaccine the company works on. So far, J & J has not tested the vaccine on humans.
Paul revealed that the coronavirus vaccine would be developed with the same technology used to make the Ebola vaccine, which is already widely used. The company believes that this method is safe.
Testing vaccine safety is even more critical than administering vaccines to humans. This is because vaccines are given to healthy people to prevent infection.
So the number of people who will receive this vaccine is more than 1 billion people in the world. In laboratory trials, this vaccine produces potent antibodies to neutralize the coronavirus. These effects are needed to make a successful vaccine.
J & J will continue to test the vaccine in animals until the summer of this year and begin human testing in September 2020. Another pharmaceutical company, Moderna Inc., said if they had begun initial trials of the coronavirus vaccine on healthy human volunteers. They became pioneers in the race to develop the vaccine.
The company will start producing vaccines at risk without knowing whether the vaccine works. "This is the only choice for us to be able to catch up with time," said Dr. Paul was quoted by the Daily Star on Monday (3/30).
J & J has a factory in the Netherlands that can produce 300 million vaccines. But that number is not enough for the world. Paul said his company began building factories in the US so that it could create vaccines at the end of the year. At that time, the data from clinical trials will show whether the vaccine is valid or not.
They will also look for other factories in Europe and Asia that can make the type of vaccine the company works on. So far, J & J has not tested the vaccine on humans.
Paul revealed that the coronavirus vaccine would be developed with the same technology used to make the Ebola vaccine, which is already widely used. The company believes that this method is safe.
Testing vaccine safety is even more critical than administering vaccines to humans. This is because vaccines are given to healthy people to prevent infection.
So the number of people who will receive this vaccine is more than 1 billion people in the world. In laboratory trials, this vaccine produces potent antibodies to neutralize the coronavirus. These effects are needed to make a successful vaccine.
J & J will continue to test the vaccine in animals until the summer of this year and begin human testing in September 2020. Another pharmaceutical company, Moderna Inc., said if they had begun initial trials of the coronavirus vaccine on healthy human volunteers. They became pioneers in the race to develop the vaccine.
