Johnson & Johnson Terminates COVID-19 Vaccine Contract with Emergent Amid $420M Breach Dispute

By Dine

Another "Cooperation Breakdown" May Turn Business into a Lawsuit.

On June 6 local time, Johnson & Johnson announced that it had formally notified Emergent BioSolutions of its decision to terminate the COVID-19 vaccine supply agreement with the manufacturer.

Johnson & Johnson stated that Emergent was in breach of contract, including the failure to supply the drug substance for the COVID-19 vaccine. In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Emergent accused Johnson & Johnson of contractual violations, claiming that its subsidiary, Janssen, did not intend to purchase the minimum quantity of products as stipulated in the agreement; if the agreement is terminated, Emergent claims that Johnson & Johnson would owe them between $125 million and $420 million.

In response, Johnson & Johnson stated in its statement that Emergent's claims were "false and misleading."

In April 2020, Johnson & Johnson announced that its Janssen Pharmaceuticals had entered into a strategic collaboration with Emergent BioSolutions to support the production of its leading COVID-19 vaccine candidate.

In April 2021, due to the mix-up of raw materials and significant production safety issues at Emergent BioSolutions, the manufacturer of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, the U.S. FDA has requested that Emergent BioSolutions halt production of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine at its Baltimore facility. (For more details, please click on "Contamination of 15 Million Doses of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 Vaccine! FDA Orders Immediate Suspension of Production at Emergent Facility")

As an important part of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing network, Emergent's production accident led to the contamination of at least 15 million doses of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine.

Nearly 400 Million Doses of COVID-19 Vaccine Produced by Emergent Must Be Destroyed Due to "Lack of Quality Control," According to a Report by the House Oversight and Reform Committee Based on Internal Emails, Documents, and Interviews from the Company.

This is not the first time Emergent has had problems.

According to reports, an investigation conducted by the FDA in April 2020 at the Baltimore facility indicated that Emergent did not even have qualified personnel to produce coronavirus vaccines. Another inspection carried out in June revealed that the FDA found Emergent's production planning to be inadequate due to insufficient staff training and poor quality control.

How this incident will evolve subsequently, Yidu Medicine will continue to pay attention.

Reference Source:

Emergent says J&J owes up to $420M for breach of contract. J&J: You want to talk breaches?