SPAIN’S REIG JOFRE TO MANUFACTURE J&J's COVID-19 VACCINE

Spanish pharmaceutical Reig Jofre said it had agreed with Johnson & Johnson to produce the US company’s COVID-19 vaccine, becoming the third Spanish company to be chosen to take part in manufacturing coronavirus vaccines, Joan Faus and Nathan Allen reported for Reuters.

After the announcement, Reig Jofre’s stock price surged 32% to 4.99 euros ($6.07) a share, on track for its best day ever.

J&J’s Janssen subsidiary will transfer the technology required for large-scale manufacture of the vaccine candidate to Reig Jofre, allowing production at its plant in Barcelona to get underway once the shot receives regulatory approval, the Spanish company said in a statement.

Under the terms of the agreement, Reig Jofre said it will be responsible for the formulation, filling and packaging of the vaccine, while Janssen will handle distribution.

The company’s new plant in Barcelona is under construction and due to start operating in the first quarter of 2021. Spain’s pharmaceutical firm Rovi was selected in October for the fill and finish final stage of manufacturing for Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine outside the United States, which is expected to start in early 2021. In September, Spanish biopharmaceutical group Zendal said it would handle production in the European Union of the antigen of US Novavax’s coronavirus vaccine project.

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