A Baltimore factory that botched the production of 15 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine hasn't been able to distribute any of its doses because of a certification issue, according to The New York Times.
The factory for Emergent BioSolutions, a biotech firm that's known for producing anthrax vaccines, has produced at least 150 million Johnson & Johnson vaccine doses — none of which have been used, The Times reported.
The manufacturng plant ruined 15 million vaccine doses last month of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine when an employee reportedly mixed up vaccine ingredients.
The mistake came only a month after the vaccine had gained authorization in the US. At the time, the company said it planned to deliver 100 million doses by the end of June and 1 billion within the year.
As of April 3, about 3.8 million doses of the J&J vaccine have been administered, according to data from The Wall Street Journal. In total, about 162 million vaccine doses have been administered in the US between J&J, Moderna, and Pfizer.
The mistake did not impact Johnson & Johnson vaccines that had already been delivered but delayed production and shipment schedules of the vaccine for several weeks. The facility had been slated to produce tens of millions of doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine by the end of May.
Emergent BioSolutions told Insider that the company's quality control systems were "working as designed to detect and isolate any batch that fails to meet quality standards for any reason."
"No one, including employees at Emergent, wants to see vaccines that cannot be used," the company said in a statement, adding: "Any allegation that our safety, quality, and compliance systems are not working or that we do not take these responsibilities seriously is unequivocally false."
Emergent Biosolutions also has a history of quality-control issues and was once cited by the Food and Drug Administration for a number of issues, including mold and cracked vials, the Associated Press reported.
Around the same time, J&J announced its partnership with Emergent Biosolutions. The company signed a five-year contract, of which the first two years of the agreement were valued at $480 million, according to Emergent Biosolutions.
