Catalent, J&J Enter Mfg. Pact for COVID-19 Vax Candidate

Catalent, Inc. has entered a collaboration with the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, under which Catalent’s Biologics business unit will accelerate availability of manufacturing capacity and prepare for large-scale commercial manufacturing of J&J’s lead vaccine candidate for COVID-19 at its facility in Bloomington, IN.
 
The joint investment will accelerate rapid scale-up of segregated manufacturing capacity in the coming months to support dedicated production of J&J’s investigational vaccine candidate. Catalent plans to hire approximately 300 additional employees at the site for this program starting in July 2020 to meet operational readiness and 24×7 manufacturing schedules by January 2021.
 
“Catalent is proud to collaborate with Johnson & Johnson in its efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic and save lives,” said John Chiminski, Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Catalent. “Both organizations have committed to ambitious goals and are executing innovative strategies to meet the forecasted demand on an unprecedented timeline. We value the trust that Johnson & Johnson has placed in us regarding this important, time-sensitive program and will apply our extensive experience in quickly scaling up manufacturing operations for late-stage and commercial products.”
 
Catalent’s 875,000 sq.-ft. facility in Bloomington provides sterile formulation, with drug substance development and manufacturing and drug product fill/finish capacity across liquid and lyophilized vials, prefilled syringes, and cartridges as well as primary and secondary packaging. Scale-up in production will include the use of two new high-speed machines, including an Optima vial filling line and a Dividella NeoTOP 1604 top-load cartoner.