Johnson & Johnson is likely to have a Covid-19 vaccine available for children under 18 by September, says CEO Alex Gorsky.
‘I think it’s likely to appear right in the timeline. The good news is that the FDA is already working with companies to draw up clear regulatory guidelines so that the relevant data can be collected, ‘Gorsky told David Ignatius during a Washington Post Live event on Wednesday.
Gorksy said one benefit of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is that this particular type of vaccine has been used in lower age groups before.
‘The AdVac 26 was widely used among broad age groups, young and old in Africa, when we developed it for other conditions such as Ebola and HIV. ‘It therefore gives us reasons to be optimistic about the safety profile in that patient population, but we still have to do the clinical work,’ he said.
Last week, Johnson and Johnson first announced their plans to study the vaccine in adolescents. Gorsky says it will start testing in people aged 12 to 18, and it will drop from there.
“We will conduct various immunogenicity and safety studies in children from 17 years of age to newborns.” week.
“We also expect a study among pregnant women in the second and third trimesters by the end of March, in early April,” Douoguih said.
Both Pfizer and Moderna are currently testing their mRNA-based Covid-19 vaccines in children.