A spokesman confirmed to Fox News that Johnson & Johnson is considering plans to create a second-generation coronavirus vaccine.
“We are looking at developing a second-generation vaccine and will learn from our current COVID-19 program to accelerate these efforts,” a Janssen spokesman wrote in part. “We will continue to do everything in our power to end the pandemic and will share more information as it becomes available.”
The efforts come in parallel as the company works to strengthen its manufacturing power to deliver its existing coronavirus vaccine around the world.
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“The results of our Phase 3 ENSEMBLE study have shown protection against several variants in circulation, and we are working 24 hours a day to develop and activate our manufacturing capability to supply our COVID-19 vaccine worldwide,” the spokesperson written. “We will also continue to test the effectiveness of our vaccine against new and emerging variants.”
The ENSEMBLE study previously indicated that the now-approved coronavirus vaccine was 72% effective in preventing moderate to severe COVID-19 in the US, but fell to 66% in a larger trial worldwide. The late stage trial involved 43,783 participants.
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J&J has previously given a boost to the hope that its vaccine candidate will be effective against various strains.
“Protection was generally constant in race, age groups, including adults older than 60 years (N = 13,610), and in all variants and regions studied, including South Africa, where almost all cases of COVID-19 (95% “was due to infection with a SARS-CoV-2 variant of the B.1.351 lineage,” reads a previous version.