Merck’s COVID Manufacturing Deal With US Government Goes Well Beyond J&J Vaccine

 
• By Mandy Jackson
  
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‘Wartime’ contract with BARDA will fund up to $268.8m in production site upgrades so Merck can also produce other COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics as needed.

Some ampoules with ncov-2019 vaccine in a box
Merck & Co. will provide additional COVID-19 vaccine and treatment manufacturing capacity in the US under a new BARDA deal • Source: Shutterstock

Under a deal brokered by President Biden’s administration, Merck & Co., Inc. will manufacture Johnson & Johnson’s newly authorized COVID-19 vaccine as well as other vaccines and therapeutics against the virus. The investment comes at a time Merck, a longtime leader in the vaccine space, was already intending to make capital investments in its vaccine manufacturing network.

The US Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) invoked the Defense Production Act to provide up to $268.8m, including...

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