Johnson & Johnson surges 9% after saying its coronavirus vaccine will begin human testing by September (JNJ)

Reuters

• Johnson & Johnson announced Monday that it identified a lead COVID-19 vaccine candidate that could begin human trials in September and be ready for emergency authorization use in 2021. 
• Shares of the healthcare company surged as much as 9% during regular trading.
• J&J will expand manufacturing capacity to produce the vaccine quickly and reach a goal of 1 billion doses the company said in a statement.
• The company has also pledged $1 billion in vaccine funding in partnership with the federal Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, part of the Department of Health and Human Services. 
• Watch Johnson & Johnson trade live on Markets Insider.

Johnson & Johnson is surging after announcing that it has accelerated the timeline for human testing of an experimental vaccine for COVID-19, and that it could be ready for emergency use in 2021. 

Shares of the world's largest healthcare company gained as much as 9% Monday after the company released a statement saying it had identified a lead vaccine candidate for COVID-19 from constructs it's been working on since January. 

J&J said it will initiate human clinical studies of its COVID-10 vaccine by September at the latest and anticipates the first batch could be ready for emergency use authorization by 2021. This is a "substantially accelerated timeframe" compared to the typical vaccine development process, according to the company. 

"This is a bit of a moonshot for J&J," CEO Alex Gorsky said in a Monday morning interview with CNBC. "But it's one that we feel is very important for us to be doing at this point in time."

Read more: RBC says buy these 12 socially responsible stocks that are beating the market amid the coronavirus turmoil — and can help protect portfolios from more chaos

Gorsky also told CNBC that the company is pursuing the vaccine on a "not-for-profit-basis," and declined to say how much it may cost consumers. 

The company aims to enable a supply of more than one billion doses of the vaccine globally. To achieve this goal, the company is expanding its manufacturing capacity through a new US site and expanding its sites in other countries. 

J&J also announced it pledged more than $1 billion to fund vaccine research in a partnership with the federal Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, part of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Despite Monday's gain, J&J shares have still declined roughly 10% on a year-to-date basis.

Read more: 200-plus money managers pay thousands to see what stocks are on Jim Osman's buy list. Here are 3 he says are set to soar 'at least 50%' from their coronavirus-stricken levels.

NOW WATCH: A big-money investor in juggernauts like Facebook and Netflix breaks down the '3rd wave' firms that are leading the next round of tech disruption

See Also:

• The 'Dr.Doom' economist lays out 3 reasons why the coronavirus-induced US recession could become a 'Greater Depression'
• The world's biggest wealth manager expects the worst of the coronavirus to be over in the US by May — and lists 5 ways investors should prepare for the recovery now
• 'It won't be a robust recovery': Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz warns the $2 trillion bailout package will fail to drive an immediate economic rebound