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Johnson & Johnson announced that in the fight against COVID-19, it is partnering with the U.S. government. Together, they will invest $1 billion. J&J is testing a vaccine to stop the new coronavirus. The partnership will aim to create enough manufacturing capacity to make more than one billion doses.

Many labs and scientists are working on a possible vaccine. But Johnson & Johnson has determined that its own version is the one most likely to succeed. So the company will use financial help from the U.S. government to push that vaccine candidate forward. Human testing should begin in September. The goal is to have the drug ready by early 2021.

That would be far quicker than the 18-month process usually required for vaccines to be tested, approved, and then manufactured. Emergency authorization from the Food and Drug Administration would allow J&J to bypass regulations and procedures that slow the drug approval process.

Johnson & Johnson said already in January that it had begun working on a possible vaccine for the coronavirus. It employed some of the same technologies that were used to make an experimental Ebola vaccine.

Investors are betting on a win. If the vaccine is successful, the company could do well financially. High hopes for success sent stock market shares of JNJ solidly higher on Monday.

(A Johnson & Johnson technician watches an automated process in the lab. Reuters)