Johnson & Johnson buys 18% stake in Crucell

AMSTERDAM: US health care products maker Johnson & Johnson Inc. has bought an 18 percent stake in biotechnology company Crucell NV for euro301.8 million ($440 million), the Dutch company said in a statement on Monday.

The companies will collaborate on the development and marketing of vaccines and hope to create a ``universal'' flu vaccine, among other goals, Crucell said.

Crucell said the shares it is selling to Johnson & Johnson are newly created. Crucell's shares were up 2.8 percent at euro16.395 in midday trading in Amsterdam.