Happy Monday, readers.
A major bit of news from Johnson & Johnson today—the company is developing a coronavirus vaccine which it believes could hit the market by 2021.
That would be a stunning development. It usually takes anywhere from three to seven years, sometimes more, to move a vaccine from initial development to market. Pathogens are tricky.
But J&J is on a significantly ramped up schedule for a variety of reasons, CEO Alex Gorsky told Fortune.
For instance: the company invested in some vaccine technology development a decade ago which, according to Gorsky, “turned out to have much broader application than we anticipated.”
The firm is also ramping up its manufacturing capabilities should its vaccine candidate get an emergency use authorization by the FDA within the next year.
By the way, readers, during these challenging times we all have to make some changes. Given the importance of health care coverage in the current moment, I’m going to dedicate my resources to covering broader stories about the crisis.
As such, Brainstorm Health Daily will, for the time being, go to a weekly schedule. Watch for the revamped newsletter, filled with the week’s most important health care news, on Thursdays between 2 pm and 3 pm. We’re also planning a name change to go along with the new schedule but don’t worry, the format won’t change.
Read on for the day’s news—and see you again on Thursday.
Sy Mukherjee
sayak.mukherjee@fortune.com
@the_sy_guy