Two congressional committees have expanded their investigation of the Emergent BioSolutions Baltimore plant where millions of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines were thrown out due to possible contamination, The New York Times reported.
In two letters dated June 22, two House panels asked Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca to document their efforts to supervise the production of their vaccines at the plant. The House panels also asked the drugmakers to provide all records related to the decision to hire Emergent to produce the vaccines.
The FDA has ordered the Emergent plant to throw out 75 million doses of Johnson & Johnson's vaccine due to suspected contamination. More than 100 million more doses of both Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca vaccines are being held in limbo as the FDA inspects them, the Times reported.
The congressional investigation is being run by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, headed by Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., and the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, headed by James Clyburn, D-S.C.
In the letters sent to Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca June 22, the committees wrote that they are "troubled by the impact Emergent's manufacturing errors have had on the availability of coronavirus vaccine doses, as well as the potential effect on public perceptions regarding the safety and efficacy of these vaccines. We are also concerned about the circumstances that led AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson to sign contracts with Emergent."
The federal government agreed to pay Emergent BioSolutions $628 million in May 2020, with most of that going to reserve production capacity at its plant in Baltimore, according to the Times. The U.S. also signed billion dollar contracts with Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca for the vaccines the plant was supposed to produce.
The plant has been closed since mid-April as it works to meet the FDA's manufacturing standards. It's expected to reopen and resume making Johnson & Johnson's vaccine, but it will no longer make AstraZeneca's, the Times reported.
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