Catalent to lead US manufacturing for J&J’s lead COVID-19 vaccine candidate

Somerset-based Catalent Inc. – a global provider of advanced delivery technologies, development and manufacturing solutions for drugs, biologics, cell and gene therapies, and consumer health products – on Wednesday announced a collaboration with Janssen Pharmaceutical Cos. of Johnson & Johnson.

Through its Biologics business unit, Catalent will accelerate the availability of manufacturing capacity, and prepare for large-scale commercial manufacturing, at its Bloomington, Ind. facility for Johnson & Johnson’s lead vaccine candidate for COVID-19.

The collaboration, according to Catalent, commits joint investment to accelerate rapid scale-up of segregated manufacturing capacity over the coming months to support the dedicated production of Johnson & Johnson’s investigational vaccine candidate.

Starting in July 2020, Catalent plans to hire approximately 300 additional employees at the site for this program to meet operational readiness and 24/7 manufacturing schedules by January 2021.

“Catalent is proud to collaborate with Johnson & Johnson in its efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic and save lives,” said Chair and Chief Executive Officer John Chiminski.

“Both organizations have committed to ambitious goals and are executing innovative strategies to meet the forecasted demand on an unprecedented timeline,” Chiminski added. “We value the trust that Johnson & Johnson has placed in us regarding this important, time-sensitive program and will apply our extensive experience in quickly scaling up manufacturing operations for late-stage and commercial products.”

On April 27, Johnson & Johnson also announced a collaboration between Janssen and Emergent BioSolutions Inc. to support manufacturing of its vaccine candidate. The drug-maker has committed to making more than one billion doses of the vaccine available worldwide.