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Shares of
and its manufacturing contractor,
were down on Thursday morning after the New York Times reported a production error at a plant working on Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine.
The Times, in its Wednesday report, said that vaccine shipments had been delayed by the error, which involved a mix-up in which workers confused components of Johnson & Johnson (ticker: JNJ) and
(AZN) Covid-19 vaccines, which were being manufactured at the same Baltimore plant.
The Times said that the 24 million doses Johnson & Johnson had been expected to deliver in April were “now in question.” In a statement late Wednesday, Johnson & Johnson said it would send experts to work on-site at the Emergent (EBS) plant in order to “safely deliver an additional 24 million single-shot vaccine doses through April.”
Despite the uncertainty around whether the error will eventually result in delivery delays, Johnson & Johnson shares were down 1.2% in premarket trading on Thursday. The contract manufacturer Emergent fell 7.3%.
The Times reported that up to 15 million doses had been ruined by the error.
Emergent didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about the incident. Emergent shares are up 3.7% so far this year, and 71% over the past twelve months. The company, which, among other things, is a contract manufacturer, has deals to make both
and Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccines. The company, which, among other things, is a contract manufacturer, has deals to make both AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccines.
In its Thursday statement, Johnson & Johnson said that its quality-control processes had found an issue with a batch of “drug substance” at the Emergent facility. Emergent’s factory is still waiting on emergency authorization from the FDA to produce the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, as Politico first reported on April 24.
Emergent is making the so-called active ingredient for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine at its factory, and shipping it to another contractor,
(CTLT), for the final stages of the manufacturing process, known as fill and finish.
Johnson & Johnson said that the ruined batch was never sent for filling and finishing.
“This is an example of the rigorous quality control applied to each batch of drug substance,” the company said. “The issue was identified and addressed with Emergent and shared with the United States Food & Drug Administration.”
Johnson & Johnson delivered more than 20 million doses of its single-dose vaccine to the U.S. government through March, and plans to deliver a total of 100 million doses by the end of May.
Politico reported late Wednesday that the federal government expects the mix-up at Emergent to delay shipments of the vaccine in the coming weeks, citing federal officials it didn’t identify, though one said they still expected the company to meet its commitment for the end of April.
Write to Josh Nathan-Kazis at josh.nathan-kazis@barrons.com
