By Dhirendra Tripathi
Investing.com – Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) shares fell more than 1% Friday after the Food and Drug Administration asked it to throw out 60 million doses of its Covid-19 vaccine that were made at a troubled Baltimore plant.
The FDA plans to allow about 10 million doses to be distributed in the U.S. or be sent to other countries, but with a warning that regulators cannot guarantee that Emergent Biosolutions (NYSE:EBS), the company that operates the plant, followed good manufacturing practices, NYT said.
The FDA had been trying to figure out the fate of at least 170 million doses of vaccine left in limbo after the discovery of a major production mishap involving two vaccines manufactured at the site.
More than 100 million doses of the J&J vaccine and at least 70 million doses of AstraZeneca's (NASDAQ:AZN) were put on hold after Emergent discovered in March that its workers had contaminated a batch of J&J with a key ingredient used to produce the U.K. company’s shots.
The Emergent plant remains shut.
J&J’s Covid vaccine is the only one in the world being given as a single shot. All others need two doses.