Johnson & Johnson to test its coronavirus vaccine by September

Yes, pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson will be soon out with its first batch of the vaccine that will be made available for emergency use authorization by early next year, said a company announcement released on Monday. It plans to begin human clinical trials by September.

The pharma giant has been working on the vaccine since January and is working on partnering with Biomedical Advance Research and Development Authority (BARDA), a division of the Department of Health and Human Services. The partnership between the two will commit $1 billion to fund vaccine research, development and clinical testing, the company said.

“The world is facing an urgent public health crisis and we are committed to doing our part to make a COVID-19 vaccine available and affordable globally as quickly as possible,” Johnson & Johnson Chairman and CEO Alex Gorsky said in a news release.

J& J will also expand its global manufacturing capacity so that it can quickly produce the vaccine once it is approved, the company said. Apart from J&J, US biotech firm Moderna too is planning to ship its vaccine to government researchers for getting tested in February. The first dose has already been administered to trial participants earlier this month itself, says National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.