J&J Scientific Officer ‘Pretty Confident’ They Can Create Coronavirus Vaccine as Outbreak Widens

Johnson & Johnson’s chief scientific officer, Dr. Paul Stoffels, told CNBC on Monday that he believes the drugmaker can create a vaccine in the coming months to fight against the fast-spreading coronavirus.

But he said it could take up to a year to bring it to market.

“We have dozens of scientists working on this so we’re pretty confident we can get something made that will work and stay active for the longer term,” said Stoffels, also vice chairman of the executive committee, in a “Squawk Box” interview.

“We’ll see in the next few weeks how this goes,” he added. Stoffels confirmed the company started working on a coronavirus vaccine two weeks ago.