Johnson & Johnson to supply 100m US Covid-19 vaccine doses

Johnson & Johnson has agreed to supply 100m doses of its investigational Covid-19 vaccine to the US in the latest deal between the government and drug companies.

The company said its Janssen Pharmaceuticals division had signed a deal with the US government to make and deliver the doses of its SARS-CoV-2 vaccine after the drug gets regulatory approval.

The US's Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority is committing more than $1bn to the agreement. The vaccine will be provided on a not-for-profit basis for emergency pandemic use, the company said.

The US may purchase a further 200m doses. Based on positive preclinical data the vaccine is being tested on health volunteers in the US and Belgium. Johnson & Johnson shares rose 1% to $148.70 at 14:56 BST.

Paul Stoffels, Johnson & Johnson's chief scientific officer, said: "We greatly appreciate the US government's confidence in, and support for, our R&D platform and efforts and the scalability of our vaccine technology. We are scaling up production in the U.S. and worldwide to deliver a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine for emergency use."

The US has agreed a string of deals with drug companies such as Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline to support and secure the various vaccines in development as scientists rush to find treatments for Covid-19. The Trump administration is providing GSK and Sanofi with up to $2.1bn to support vaccine development and deliver an initial 100m batch of vaccines with an option for 500m more.