This is the first of a series of global collaborations the company plans to initiate to accelerate manufacturing of the vaccine candidate and to meet the goal of supplying over 1 billion doses of the vaccine globally.

Under terms of the agreement, Johnson & Johnson will invest to expand drug substance capacity needed for the vaccine candidate. Emergent BioSolutions will provide drug substance manufacturing services beginning in 2020 and will support commercial manufacturing of the vaccine, leveraging Janssen's AdVac and Per C6 technologies, as early as 2021. Johnson & Johnson will simultaneously scale up vaccine manufacturing globally to meet their 1 billion dose goal.

Preparations for clinical trials are underway in Europe with the aim of initiating phase I studies in September 2020. After approval, Johnson& Johnson will begin production to bring the vaccine to the public on a not-for-profit basis for emergency pandemic use.