United States: FDA stops production of Johnson & Johnson in factory

The US drug agency, the FDA, has called for production of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to be stopped at a plant that has reportedly produced 15 million deficient doses.

The pharmaceutical giant told AFP at the end of March that it had identified in a plant in Baltimore (Maryland) managed by the firm Emergent BioSolutions a batch of doses "

".

Johnson & Johnson did not specify the amount of doses involved.

Read also: Vaccines: the European Union could do without AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson next year

The New York Times subsequently reported that this batch contained 15 million doses.

Emergency BioSolutions said in a file sent Monday to the Securities and Exchange Commission, the federal financial market regulator, that the FDA on April 16 requested a pause in vaccine production in Baltimore pending inspection.

Additional experts expected on the site

“

”, declares the file. Johnson & Johnson said in March it was sending additional experts to the site to oversee vaccine production, and that it planned to deliver 24 million doses in April.

The Emerging BioSolutions plant had not at the time been cleared by US regulators to manufacture a "

" for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, the drug company said.

But US media have reported that the plant is expected to produce tens of millions of doses in the near future.

Read also: Covid-19: the European regulator will vote on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine on Tuesday, April 20

The requested break in manufacturing is the latest of problems with the vaccine in the United States, where regulators temporarily halted its use after authorities reported six cases of women who developed blood clots in association with low platelet levels, including one fatal case, within two weeks of a Johnson & Johnson vaccine injection. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is due to rule on whether Johnson & Johnson's vaccine is safe on Tuesday.