The American government has joined forces with a couple of companies and businesses in the ongoing fight against the spread of COVID-19.
The current measures involve companies like Johnson & Johnson and Moderna Inc preparing their facilities for the eventual production of medication against the virus.
Even though for the time being, the research for a vaccine for the coronavirus is far from complete and the most optimistic predictions show the cure might be found in 2021, a lot of preparations still needed to be executed in advance.
At the beginning of the week, Johnson & Johnson issued an official statement, saying the company had reached an agreement with the American government worth $1 billion, in exchange for which, the firm will have secured the resources needed for the production of 1 billion vaccines.
Besides, earlier this month, it was announced that Moderna was also involved in a deal with the U.S Department of Health and Human Services.
Reportedly, the company has already started initial experiments with a potential vaccine and is evaluating its effect on human beings.
However, according to the director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), Rich Bright, at least 12 months of testing could pass for a vaccine candidate to be officially approved.
Bright also stated the most important thing was to work as fast as possible, so in the end, there are enough vaccines for everyone.
He stated: “Government and industry is working in unprecedented ways, as quickly as possible and manufacture enough of it for us and the rest of the world in a very short timeframe. There’s a lot of risk involved in making a new vaccine, a lot of risk in going quickly. Wherever possible, we need to understand and mitigate that risk.”
Paul Stoffels, chief scientific officer at Johnson & Johnson, said the potential vaccine would go to hospital workers first because they are taking a lot of risks
He continued: “The first people who need to get access are the people at the highest risk, the health care workers who work in hospitals — the nurses, the doctors and all the people who work with the patients.”
The company is also working with Europe and countries like Japan, China, and South Korea.
As a result, the shares of both companies marked a significant rise, with J&J’s jumping up to 8% at $133.01 and Moderna’s with 1.4% to $30.48.
