Bloomington Company Distributing Johnson & Johnson Vaccine

Two weeks after the Food and Drug Administration authorized the one-shot Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, Catalent Biologics in Bloomington is helping distribute it.

The vaccine is made by Janssen Pharmaceuticals which is a Johnson & Johnson company.

“Specifically, for Janssen’s vaccine, what we’re doing is taking that bulk drug substance that Janssen is providing.  And we are, you know, formulating it into a finished state and then filling into vials. We do 100% inspection on all those vials,” said Vice President for the Bloomington plant, Denis Johnson.

Catalent is currently waiting on approval from the federal government to ship the Johnson and Johnson vaccine across state lines.

Once given the green light, the vaccine will ship to Johnson and Johnson distribution centers and then on to clinics and hospitals.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Catalent broke ground on an addition to its facility on the west side of Bloomington. That area is being used to produce the vaccines.

“There was an announcement on the expansion that we did included two new lines, one of which was a vial, filling line and about 72,000 square feet of additional space built out from the ground,” Johnson said.

Catalent had already hired an additional 1,300 workers to handle the increased workload.

“They’re working 24-seven, they’re working weekends, they’re working holidays that we have people over Christmas or New Year’s or Thanksgiving, all volunteers coming in.”

In December, former Vice-President Mike Pence visited Catalent, as production ramped up with the Moderna vaccine.