Johnson & Johnson to miss second quarter target of COVID-19 vaccine supply to E.U.
After AstraZeneca, the United States (U.S.) drug maker Johnson & Johnson has informed the European Union (E.U.) it is facing supply issues and may not be able to deliver the agreed 55 million doses of Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines in the second quarter of the year.
Earlier, the British–Swedish multinational pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical company – AstraZeneca Plc. had told the E.U. that it will deliver less than 50% of the agreed (COVID-19) vaccine by the second quarter of the year.
The recent delay in supplies of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine – Janssen, will hit the E.U.’s vaccination plans severely and may compel member states to arrange for vaccines on their own. Hungary had already gone against the E.U. after it accepted COVID-19 doses from China based Sinopharm and Russia’s Sputnik V. These have not been approved by E.U.
As per the E.U. consensus, member states are required to act in solidarity and they should not indulge in separate purchase of vaccine. As per E.U., the vaccine has to be approved by European Medicines Agency (EMA), E.U.’s agency in charge of the evaluation and supervision of medicinal products. For distribution, it is the E.U. which is to distribute the vaccine amongst member states.
Meanwhile, EMA is set to approve the Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine for use today, i.e., Thursday, March 11, 2021.
Also, the Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine requires only 1 dose to be given to people, as against the 2 doses which are required for all the other COVID-19 vaccine makers.
Although Johnson & Johnson had informed about delay in supply, the first lot of vaccines will arrive in Europe in April, 2021. As per the agreement, Johnson & Johnson is to supply 200 million doses to the bloc in 2021. The E.U. also has an option of ordering another 200 million doses.
A Statement from Johnson & Johnson read, “Aligned with our agreement, we expect to begin supplying our commitment of 200 million doses to the European Union in the second quarter of 2021.”
The Johnson & Johnson’s vaccines for E.U. are being produced in Netherlands. The Health Minister of Netherlands – Hugo de Jonge told reporters he expected the company, to meet its second-quarter target of about 3 million doses for the country, although with limited deliveries in April and a ramp-up later in the quarter.
Besides, Ireland also expects Johnson & Johnson to begin supplies a bit later in April than initially planned, with the largest deliveries at the end of the second quarter.
The Janssen investigational vaccine is compatible with standard vaccine distribution channels. If authorized, Janssen’s investigational single-dose vaccine is estimated to remain stable for 2 years at -20°C (-4°F), at least 3 months of which can be stored in most standard refrigerators at temperatures of 2°-8°C (36°F–46°F). The Janssen investigational COVID-19 vaccine leverages the Company’s AdVac® vaccine platform, which was also used to develop and manufacture Janssen’s European Commission-approved Ebola vaccine regimen and construct its investigational Zika, RSV, and HIV vaccines.
