Changer ‘| Inside the Baltimore lab making Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines – CBS Baltimore

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BALTIMORE (WJZ) – At a separate facility in southeast Baltimore, Emergent BioSolutions staff worked hard within the vast bioreactor area where coronavirus vaccines – including the new Johnson & Johnson vaccine – are administered. issued for use throughout the United States.

“We actually grow the cell cultures, introduce them into the viral vectors and then clear out the viral vectors, which get an immune response in humans,” said Sean Kirk, vice president of Emergent BioSolutions who is in charge of manufacturing.

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The company provided WJZ with a rare opportunity within their secure campus in Bayview. Three hundred employees work there with dozens more supporting the facility remotely.

“I want the people of Baltimore to be proud to have an Emergent here, to be proud that a lot of residents work in this facility,” Kirk said. “Every day, our people work long hours to recover from this pandemic, and what motivates them is that we are going to deliver hundreds of millions of doses over the year. ahead. ”

Emergent has a $ 480 million contract with Johnson & Johnson and another $ 174 million contract with AstraZeneca.

The federal government has yet to approve the vaccines for use nationwide.

At the end of January, Johnson & Johnson released the results of their phase three test and said they plan to seek emergency use permission from the Food and Drug Administration.

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These results showed 85% protection against severe coronavirus infection in adults of all ages and ethnic groups 28 days after vaccination. The overall effectiveness rate for preventing moderate to severe illness was 72% in the U.S. and 66% across all countries surveyed. The vaccine was effective in preventing moderate to severe illness in South Africa, where more infectious stress has spread rapidly through the population.

Maryland is the second state in which South African snoring has been discovered. There are at least three cases in Maryland: two in Montgomery County and one in the Baltimore area. The advanced patient in a Baltimore area case did not develop an infection through travel, state health officials said.

The emergence of new series means that vaccinations are urgently needed.

People in Maryland and across the country are plagued by vaccine shortages.

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine has some benefits. It only needs one picture – and there are no special freezers.

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“One-dose gambling is definitely worth it,” Dr. Mathai Mammen, head of global research for J&J’s Janssen Pharmaceutical unit, told the Associated Press.

“You get a glimpse of the J&J and 10, 14 days later you start getting a lot of protection,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Infectious and Infectious Diseases and top adviser to President Joe Biden .

All COVID-19 vaccines train the body to recognize the new coronavirus, usually by seeing the spikey protein that coats it. But they are made in different ways.

Johnson & Johnson’s bullet uses a cold virus like a Trojan horse to carry the spike gene into the body, where cells make harmless copies of the protein to prime the immune system in case the real virus arrives. .

Johnson & Johnson said the vaccine works consistently in a wide range of people: a third of participants were over 60, and more than 40% had other illnesses at risk from COVID- 19, including obesity, diabetes and HIV. The company maintains that the vaccine is safe, with similar reactions to other COVID-19 blows such as fever that occurs when the immune system is regenerated.

Maryland vaccine guidance

Dr. David Marcozzi at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, a consultant to Gov. Larry Hogan says Johnson & Johnson vaccine is a “game-changer”

Emergent Biosolutions told WJZ that it is ready for the federal government to clarify the public emergency use of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine. An advisory committee of the Food and Drug Administration will meet on 26 February to consider the vaccine candidate.

It usually takes several weeks for the FDA to review results from clinical trials.

As soon as an agreement is reached, “Nothing changes,” he told Hellgren. They are already vaccinating.

“We are open in manufacturing,” he said. “We have a unique opportunity to save tens of thousands – hundreds of thousands – in the coming months.”

Back at Emergent’s Bayview facility, the sterile bags on the tanks are easy to change so there’s the flexibility to upgrade or anything else that’s needed.

At another emergency facility, across the street from M&T Bank Stadium, the company has signed a contract to manufacture lenzilumab, a potential treatment for COVID-19.

“There is a lot of work behind the scenes in facilities like ours and other facilities in the industry to make sure we beat this pandemic,” Kirk said.

Johnson and Johnson and AstraZeneca representatives are on site at Bayview and Kirk said the highest safety standards are followed.

“The timelines are in no way accelerating the safety that we have incorporated into these products that have jeopardized from the outset,” Kirk said.

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For the latest coronavirus information go to Maryland Department of Health website or call 211. You can find all WJZ broadcasts on it coronavirus in Maryland here.

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