Johnson & Johnson is plowing ahead with development for a coronavirus vaccine. According to CNBC, the company has selected a lead vaccine candidate and human testing will begin by September. Chairman and CEO Alex Gorsky said interim results are expected in December or January. Assuming all goes well, the vaccine could become authorized for emergency by in early 2021 -- much quicker than the average 18-month vaccine timeline.
The company, in partnership with the U.S. government, will invest $1 billion towards the vaccine. In addition to accelerating development, Johnson & Johnson plans to increase its manufacturing capacity.
"We have very good early indicators that not only can we depend on this to be a safe vaccine base, but also one that will ultimately be effective based on all the early testing and modeling we’ve been doing," said Gorsky to CNBC. "This is a bit of a moonshot for J&J going forward, but it’s one we feel is very, very important for use to be doing at this period in time."
More than 740,000 cases of coronavirus have been reported around the world, including 33,000 deaths. The United States has more cases than any other country, as 144,000 people have tested positive. Earlier this month, Moderna Inc. began testing an experiential vaccine in Seattle.
