Vaccine research Johnson & Johnson last stage can be the most large-scale in the world, since, according to the company plans will cover about 60 thousand people in 180 cities in the U.S. and other countries, including Brazil and Mexico.
Shares of Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) rose 0.68% on Thursday, ahead of the growth index, the S&P 500 up 0.32% after the company announced that in September plans to begin the last phase of clinical study of its vaccine candidate against COVID-19.
Shares of J&J recovered from losses in February and March and demonstrate the growth of 15.12% over the last year.
J&J reported that its subsidiary Janssen Vaccines intends to start a large-scale study of the vaccine Ad26.COV2-S 60 000 healthy volunteers aged 18 years and older. The company said that the production of Ad26.COV2-S used the same techniques as when creating experimental vaccines against the virus “Ebola”.
Estimated start date – September 5, while the estimated date of completion of all studies (including the impact of the introduction of the vaccine) – 10 Mar 2023.
The final research Janssen Vaccines “3 phase” will be held in 180 cities in the U.S. and other countries, including Brazil and Mexico.
“Our program is 3 phases should be as reliable, may include up to 60 000 participants and will be conducted in areas with a high incidence of”, – said the representative of J&J Jake Sargent in an interview with CNBC. “We use the data of the epidemiology and modelling to predict and plan where to hold our research and expect that they will soon be completed.”
Earlier this month Johnson & Johnson announced receipt of a contract from the government of the United States to provide 100 million doses of its vaccine potential for $1 billion.
If you compare J&J with other manufacturers of the vaccine candidates from COVID-19, the company is behind them in terms of: Pfizer (PFE) and Moderna (MRNA) has already started the phase 3 studies. In addition, these producers have received government contracts for the same 100 million doses of vaccines more expensive: Pfizer will perform these supplies for $1.9 billion, and Moderna for $1.53 billion At the same time, the final study Moderna and Pfizer cover half the number of volunteers – up to 30 000.
However, J&J still have a chance to get out of the “race” winner as preclinical trials of its vaccine Ad26.COV2-S on primates have shown the formation of high levels of antibodies to fight the infection with just one dose, while vaccines candidates other manufacturers required two doses to achieve the same result.
Introduction one dose instead of two, it may be preferable for many government orders vaccine and J&J could obtain popularity worldwide, if included in the calendar of annual vaccinations.
