Johnson & Johnson announced yesterday its experimental coronavirus vaccine could be available for human testing by September, which the hopes of getting FDA emergency authorization by early 2021.

J&J's COVID-19 vaccine sprang from a partnership with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), an arm of the federal Department of Health and Human Services. The two groups have pledged $1 billion toward coronavirus vaccine development.

J&J said the vaccine also came from a development platform the company had invested in a decade ago. Johnson & Johnson hopes to move into early-stage trials by the fall, gathering initial data by the end of the year, and have doses available for wider use by early 2021 under a Food & Drug Administration (FDA) emergency use authorization.

To prepare for that possibility, J&J said it is also significantly scaling up its manufacturing capabilities for the coronavirus vaccine candidate. "For us to have an impact in a meaningful time, we have to start ramping up our production. That’s what we are doing in the U.S.," the company said.

This update shortens an already quick timeline for vaccine development. Previously, J&J said it was aiming to start testing a coronavirus vaccine in humans in November.

Vaccine development typically takes five to seven years before applying for regulatory approval, J&J stated. In this case, J&J is expecting it to take about a year to go from early research to emergency approval, if needed.

There are more than 40 ongoing research programs for a coronavirus vaccine. All are attempting to speed up the lengthy development process to halt the pandemic, and the speediest efforts have already started to be tested in humans in record time.

The company says that its vaccine would be provided affordably to the public on a not-for-profit basis for emergency pandemic use.