J&J working with Beth Israel to accelerate COVID-19 vaccine development

Janssen, a subsidiary of US healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), today announced a collaboration with the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) to support the development of a preventive vaccine candidate for COVID-19.

The parties have commenced preclinical testing of multiple vaccine prospects, with the aim to identify by the end of the month a COVID-19 vaccine candidate for clinical trials, said J&J, whose share were up 1.9% at $127.85 by early afternoon trading, having hit $130.40 earlier.

Janssen says it is optimistic that, in collaboration with multiple global strategic partners, it can initiate a Phase I clinical study of a potential vaccine candidate by the end of the year. In parallel to these efforts, Janssen is preparing to upscale production and manufacturing capacities to levels required to meet global public health vaccination needs.