Janssen Partners With BARDA To Expedite COVID-19 Vaccine Development

Janssen Pharmaceutical announced it intends to expedite its investigational coronavirus vaccine program through expanded collaboration with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).

This announcement on February 11, 2020, is good news since there is currently no approved vaccine for the novel coronavirus known as COVID-19.

Through this agreement, created under an existing U.S. Government’s Other Transaction Authority, (HHSO100201700018C), Janssen and BARDA will both contribute to the research and development costs and mobilize resources to rapidly advance the initial stages of Janssen’s COVID-19 vaccine development program.

BARDA will provide funding to support accelerated development of a vaccine candidate into Phase 1 clinical studies, with options for additional funding to progress a promising candidate.

In parallel, Janssen will work to upscale the production and manufacturing capacities required to meet public health needs.

The vaccine program will leverage Janssen’s AdVac® and PER.C6® technologies that provide the ability to rapidly upscale production of the optimal vaccine candidate.

These are the same technologies that were used in the development and manufacturing of Janssen’s investigational Ebola vaccine, which is currently deployed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda.

“By leveraging long-standing partnerships and proven technology, we can move rapidly to address emerging health threats like this novel coronavirus,” said BARDA Director Rick A. Bright, Ph.D., in a related press release.

“We are committed to doing everything we can to protect the health of the people in the United States and across the globe.”

The Janssen collaborative with BARDA builds on Johnson & Johnson’s multipronged response to the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak.

Paul Stoffels, M.D., Vice Chairman of the Executive Committee and Chief Scientific Officer, Johnson & Johnson, said: “This partnership will ensure that vital research is made possible at rapid speed and underscores the importance of public-private partnerships to tackle the worldwide novel coronavirus epidemic.”

“We are also in discussions with other partners, that if we have a vaccine candidate with potential, we aim to make it accessible to China and other parts of the world.”

COVID-19 belongs to a group of viruses called coronaviruses that attack the respiratory system.

The ongoing COVID-19 outbreak in China has now caused over 1,000 related fatalities around the world.

BARDA is part of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response at the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.

For more information on Johnson & Johnson’s commitment to combatting COVID-19.

Janssen is the Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, working tirelessly to make that future a reality for patients everywhere by fighting sickness with science, improving access with ingenuity, and healing hopelessness with heart.

COVID-19 vaccine development news is published by Coronavirus Today.