Johnson & Johnson CEO Alex Gorsky on Tuesday discussed the company’s unprecedented partnership with rival Merck to boost production of its Covid-19 vaccine.
“Extraordinary times require extraordinary effort,” Gorsky told CNBC’s Jim Cramer in an interview with “Mad Money.”
“What this means is that Americans will get shot in the arm faster and we’re very excited about the potential impact this can have on the situation in general,” Gorsky said. “I think it’s another … testimony to the potential that this vaccine really has.”
Coronavirus vaccines are considered essential to help the country and the world achieve herd immunity. This would allow the United States to reopen completely safely after a year of blockades and restrictions that weighed on the economy.
The J&J vaccine was 66% effective in preventing Covid during clinical trials. It is also 86% effective in preventing serious illness and prevents 100% of hospitalizations and virus-related deaths, Gorsky said Monday on CNBC. Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, which worked with BioNTech to develop their inoculation, have been shown to be 95% effective in protecting against the virus.
Merck will offer two US facilities to assist in the production of J&J vaccines as part of the deal.
“The real war here is against Covid-19, and I can’t think of any better partner than Merck, a company with an incredibly strong reputation,” Gorsky said of his partner partner. “We believe it will greatly increase our capabilities both in the near and long term.”
The comments came after President Joe Biden said Tuesday that the United States will have enough vaccines to inoculate everyone in the United States by the end of May. This is two months ahead of the administration’s initial goal.
The FDA cleaned the Covid vaccine with a single shot from J&J for emergency use over the weekend. After the company received the approval of regulators, Gorsky said J&J signed a production agreement with Merck and the federal government to speed up road manufacturing.
About 4 million doses of the J&J vaccine are expected to be delivered to the United States this week and another 16 million doses are expected to be available by the end of March.
The association follows what was done between two other drug manufacturers earlier this year. French pharmacist Sanofi said in January it would help increase the supply of the Pfizer two-shot vaccine. Moderna also has an agreement with the Swiss company Lonza to help develop its own two-shot vaccine.