This question is like asking if a soul exists. I don’t think it does. I think, the state of brain gives way to us feeling alive. There is nothing special in there that happens outside of the physical reality. So by this view, simulating a person does indeed produce consciousness.

Another (unsubstantiated) way of looking at it is that the universe is a kind of computer already, which we seek to emulate. We are already running on a computer if the universe can be considered one.