Johnson & Johnson has unveiled a new vaccines facility in Leiden, the Netherlands, to support the development and roll out of new vaccines on a mass scale for public use globally.
Built by Janssen Vaccines & Prevention, the centre contains new technological and manufacturing platforms to aid large-scale manufacturing of Janssen vaccines for use in late-stage clinical trials.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Janssen is currently developing investigational vaccines for multiple infectious diseases such as HIV, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), influenza, Ebola and Zika.
The vaccines launch facility can also support the company’s efforts for global pandemic preparedness, including the development of a new Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) vaccine in alliance with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).
Janssen Vaccines & Prevention managing director Johan Van Hoof said: “This new centre represents a significant commitment by Johnson & Johnson in our mission to change the trajectory of human health.
“By investing locally, we hope to protect globally by ensuring that innovative and effective vaccines become available to the people that need them wherever they may live.”
The vaccines launch facility will feature several research and development (R&D) platforms such as Janssen’s AdVac viral vector vaccines technology and J&J’s PER.C6 manufacturing platform.
PER.C6 is said to possess the capability to facilitate high capacity, high speed and cost-effective manufacturing for a variety of vaccines.
Janssen Research & Development Vaccine Process and Analytical Development head Dirk Redlich said: “The bottom line is that we constructed this state-of-the-art centre because we have confidence in our ability to deliver transformational vaccines.
“Ultimately, this building represents our concrete belief that we can create a better world – for people today, and for generations to come.”
Operations at the facility have already begun, primarily involving production of trial supplies for Janssen’s late-stage vaccine candidates.
