Janssen Inc., one of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, has agreed in principle to supply the Government of Canada with doses of its SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidate, Ad26.COV2.S. The availability of the vaccine candidate is subject to its successful development and Health Canada regulatory approval.
“We are deeply committed to providing global access to our SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidate. As we proceed with development of our vaccine, we are simultaneously working with partners around the world, including the Government of Canada, to ensure our vaccine is made available to citizens globally, if proven to be safe and effective”, said Paul Stoffels, M.D., Vice Chairman of the Executive Committee and Chief Scientific Officer, Johnson & Johnson.
The parties will negotiate a final advance purchase agreement in due course under which the Government of Canada would purchase up to 38 million doses of Janssen’s Ad26.COV2.S vaccine candidate on a not-for-profit basis for emergency pandemic use.
The Phase 1/2a first-in-human clinical trial of the vaccine candidate, Ad26.COV2.S, is underway in healthy volunteers in the United States and Belgium. Planning is underway for the Phase 3 program, which is subject to interim data of the Phase 1/2a trials and approval of regulators.