On 7 January 2009 Crucell released a press release saying Crucell and Wyeth were in discussion on a merger of the two companies. On 26 January 2009 Crucell released another press release saying the discussions on a combination of Crucell and Wyeth was discontinued due to Pfizer's acquisition of Wyeth.
On 28 September 2009 Johnson & Johnson bought 18% stake in Crucell for €302 million in order to collaborate on the development of a flu vaccine.[4] This follows in the wake of Crucell's discovery of CR6261, a potent human antibody that neutralizes a broad range of influenza A viruses. J&J agreed to acquire the rest of the company in October 2010, taking its stake to over 95% by February 2011[5] and delisting the company from stock exchanges two months later.[6]
Crucell has received U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding to develop a potential vaccine that would protect against both the Ebola virus disease hemorrhagic fever (from the Ebola virus; the causative agent of the 2014 Ebola outbreak in western Africa- the largest ever of the disease, with at least 1,000 deaths), and Marburg hemorrhagic fever (from the Marburg virus), which produces similar symptoms because both are hemorrhagic fever diseases. The prognosis for both, especially without early accurate diagnosis and modern treatments and care standards, is usually quite poor. The potential vaccine could begin human testing by late 2015