Politico | Coronavirus: US firm Emergent admits to issues with J&J vaccine affecting millions of doses
- The company reportedly mixed up ingredients from the Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca shots
- The White House says it does not expect Emergent’s woes to prevent J&J from meeting its goal of delivering 100 million shots by the end of May
This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Sarah Owermohle on politico.com on April 1, 2021.
A contractor Johnson & Johnson enlisted to make its coronavirus vaccine acknowledged on Thursday that it had contaminated millions of doses, confirming reports of supply problems related to the firm’s Maryland facility.
The acknowledgement by Emergent BioSolutions came one day after news reports revealed the mistake at its West Baltimore plant that affected 15 million doses.
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The company signed on to produce a J&J vaccine substance last spring and later added AstraZeneca, another drug maker producing a potential Covid-19 shot, to its roster of clients. Emergent previously promised to deliver 1 billion shots between the two by the end of this year.
Biden administration officials became aware more than a week ago of supply issues related to problems with Emergent. The company reportedly mixed up ingredients from the J&J and AstraZeneca vaccines.
“We isolated this batch and it will be disposed of properly,” Emergent said in a statement. “Discarding a batch of bulk drug substance, while disappointing, does occasionally happen during vaccine manufacturing, which is a complex and multi-step biological process.”
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Thursday that the administration did not expect Emergent’s woes to prevent J&J from meeting its goal of delivering 100 million shots by the end of May.