South Africa’s Aspen agrees with J&J to manufacture COVID-19 vaccine candidate

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South African pharmaceutical company Aspen Pharmacare said on Monday it had entered into a preliminary agreement with Johnson & Johnson to commercially manufacture its COVID-19 vaccine candidate.

Aspen said it had agreed to provide capacity required for the manufacture of J&J’s vaccine candidate, which is still undergoing clinical trials, at its Port Elizabeth facility.

Aspen will perform formulation, filling and secondary packaging of the vaccine for supply to Johnson & Johnson, the company said.

(Reporting by Tanisha Heiberg; Editing by Alexander Winning)