BRIEF—J&J draws line under Emergent row with $50 million

Contract research and development organization (CDMO) Emergent BioSolutions has announced that Johnson & Johnson will pay $50 million to resolve claims linked to a terminated manufacturing deal for the latter’s COVID-19 vaccine.

The firms inked a five-year deal in 2020 whereby Emergent agreed to provide contract manufacturing services for the vaccine's drug substance. The deal was valued at approximately $480 million for the first two years.

However, in 2022, J&J decided to end the deal, alleging that Emergent failed to supply the COVID-19 vaccine drug substance.

For its part, Emergent claimed J&J breached the agreement by not purchasing the agreed minimum quantity of vaccines.

Shares of Emergent rose about 2% in extended trading following the announcement.

The US Food and Drug Administration had limited the use of J&J’s COVID-19 vaccine in 2022 due to the risk of a rare blood clotting syndrome.