The shares of the Catalan laboratory

Reig Jofre

star in the stock market session this Tuesday in Spain with a rise of close to 30% after announcing an agreement with Janssen Pharmaceutical to produce its vaccine against the coronavirus on a large scale in Spain, still in the research phase.

The shares of the company that emerged from the merger between the homonymous company and the Valencian Natraceutical, stood this morning at 4.91 euros, which brings the total capitalization of the company to

377 million euros.

The CEO of Reig Jofre,

Ignasi Biosca

, has explained to Efe that the Catalan firm will produce the vaccine from Spain, but not only for the Spanish market, but for "international markets", although he added that Janssen will mark when the production, volume and the countries to which it will be directed.

In a statement sent to the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV), Reig Jofre explains that the sterile injectable plant that will be in charge of production, located in Sant Joan Despí (Barcelona), will be finished in the first quarter of 2021, which will allow "a rapid and safe supply of the vaccine candidate" from Janssen, a pharmaceutical division of the US company Johnson & Johnson.

Under the terms of the agreement, the Catalan pharmaceutical company will be responsible for the formulation, filling and packaging of the Janssen vaccine candidate.

"Having been chosen by Janssen as one of their partners for the production of their vaccine candidate will give Reig Jofre the opportunity to demonstrate the

The strategic value of having a solid, competitive and technologically advanced industry in overcoming a critical situation like the current one, "says Bosca in the statement to the market supervisor in Spain.

In mid-November, Reig Jofre specified that he planned to start up his new sterile injectable plant in the first quarter of 2021, in which he has invested 30 million euros, and has already advanced that his technological and industrial capacity would potentially allow him to manufacture the vaccine against Covid-19.

Biosca has said that this plant could produce "more than 250 million doses of the vaccine a year", but that Janssen must decide what production capacity it requires.

He also added that the production of the Janssen vaccine will require an additional investment - already started - in the Sant Joan Despí plant to guarantee compliance with the biosafety levels and the requirements of the Janssen vaccine candidate, but has not revealed the amount of the investment nor the economic implications of this agreement for the Catalan pharmaceutical company.

When asked by Efe about when the production of the first batches of the Janssen vaccine can be ready, the manager has avoided giving deadlines, and recalled that for the moment Reig Jofre is "approved" by Janssen to produce his vaccine, and that it will be "ready" to produce when required from its Sant Joan Despí plant, which must complete the validation and tuning processes in the first quarter of the year.

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