Johnson & Johnson’s (JNJ) – Get report The single-shot vaccine candidate has been shown to be safe and generate a meaningful immune response in an early-stage trial, according to a published report Wednesday.
A single shot of the vaccine “provides sustainable antibodies,” said Dr. Paul Stoffels, Chief Scientific Officer at J&J, to CNBC. The results have given the company “confidence” that the vaccine will be effective, Stoffels told CNBC.
The results of phase 1
Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine candidate is also undergoing Phase 3 trials to determine its actual efficacy. The results of this study are expected later this month.
If successful and approved, the vaccine would become the third available to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, which continues to rage out of control in the United States and large parts of the world.
Nearly 400,000 Americans have died from the disease, and more than 22 million have been infected.
A vaccine developed jointly by Pfizer (PFE) – Get report and BioNTech (BNTX) – Get report won approval for emergency use last month along with another vaccine from Moderna (MRNA) – Get report. Both require follow-up on booster shots and are stored at very low temperatures, complicating the distribution and rollout of the vaccines. The United States is lagging behind the expected vaccination plans, which had required 20 million vaccinations to be administered by the end of December. With approx. 10 million have done so so far.
The Johnson and Johnson vaccines require only a single shot and can be stored at higher temperatures. However, its rollout is also running according to plan and is unlikely to begin in earnest until April due to manufacturing delays, provided it is approved for use by the FDA.
Shares of Johnson and Johnson rose 1.08% to $ 159.60 in after-hours trading on Wednesday.
