South Africa's Aspen Pharmacare, Johnson & Johnson sign COVID-19 vaccine deal

South African pharmaceutical company Aspen Pharmacare announced signing a deal with two Johnson & Johnson subsidiaries to start manufacturing the multinational firm’s COVID-19 vaccine on Monday, November 2.

As per reports, the production will be based out of Aspen Pharmacare's sterile facility in the South African city of Port Elizabeth. The company said that it has invested more than $184 million in the facility to enable the manufacturing and packaging of drugs and vaccines. 

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Aspen signs deal with Johnson&Johnson

In a press release, Aspen said, "Aspen is pleased to announce that one of its wholly-owned South African subsidiaries, Pharmacare Limited (which trades as 'Aspen Pharmacare'), has entered into a preliminary agreement with Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and Janssen Pharmaceutica NV, two of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, for the technical transfer and proposed commercial manufacture of their COVID-19 vaccine candidate, Ad26.COV2-S." 

Aspen Group's chief executive, Stephen Saad added, "We have invested globally in our sterile capability and are determined to play a role in the manufacture of vaccines to add to our proud track record of making contributions to humanity in times of global pandemics." 

Earlier on October 12, Johnson & Johnson announced a temporarily paused the Phase 3 clinical trial of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate after one of the participants fell sick. In a statement released on the official website, the  American multinational corporation assured that there is "no greater priority than safety" of the people and that it is committed to providing transparent updates of its clinical development process.

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However, it added that the study participant showcased an "unexplained illness" which is currently being reviewed and evaluated. The Johnson & Johnson Phase 3 trial had started enrolling participants in late September and set a goal of recruiting up to 60,000 volunteers across more than 200 sites in the US,  Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru and South Africa. Earlier, Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 candidate was reported to have shown a strong immune response with a single dose in the early trial stages.

The COVID-19 pandemic which saw its first outbreak in a wet market in Wuhan, China last year has now spread all across the world. The virus, named COVID-19 by the World Health Organisation, has infected 47,237,899 people worldwide with the global death toll reaching at 1,209,786. As per the John Hopkins coronavirus resource centre, the United States has reported a total of at least 9,535,926 positive virus cases and has a death toll of 236,831. The US currently has the highest number of reported cases in the world, making it the epicentre of the deadly virus.

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