Vials are prepared to receive doses of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, which according to the company has a strong efficacy against the disease.
Johnson & Johnson
By Jon Cohen
ScienceCOVID-19’s reporting is supported by the Pulitzer Center and the Heising-Simons Foundation.
Less than 24 hours after small biotechnology company Novavax announced the hugely successful results of its COVID-19 vaccine, pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson (J&J) said its candidate also has strong efficacy against the pandemic coronavirus, including several new variants that concern scientists. In a press release this morning, the company reported 85% efficacy in preventing serious cases of COVID-19, including complete protection against hospitalization and death from 28 days after dosing. Unlike other COVID-19 vaccines with proven protection that include an increased dose weeks later, J&J opted for a single-dose strategy, which could greatly increase the number of people vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2.
Some protection was already seen 14 days after dosing, and on day 28 the overall efficacy against any COVID-19, light or severe, was 72% among trial participants in the United States, 66% in Latin America, and 57 % in South Africa, the company said. The results are based on an interim analysis of the ongoing efficiency test, but it seems strong enough to reach the threshold for emergency use authorization in many countries. This does not match the efficacy of more than 90% of Moderna’s two-dose messenger RNA vaccines and the Pfizer-BioNTech collaboration, but many countries are likely to welcome J & J’s candidate, given the scarce supply of other COVIDs. -19 vaccines.
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‘These results from the top line with a COVID-19 single-admission vaccine candidate are a promising moment. The potential to significantly reduce the burden of serious illness by providing an effective and well-tolerated vaccine with just one vaccination is a critical part of the global response to public health, ‘Paul Stoffels, Vice-Chair of the Executive Committee and Chief Scientist at J&J, said in the company’s release. “A single-shot vaccine is considered by the World Health Organization to be the best option in pandemic conditions, which improves access, distribution and compliance.”
The J&J vaccine was developed by the Janssen division and was heavily supported by the US government. It centers on a designed version of adenovirus 26 (Ad26), which usually causes colds but has been eliminated so that it cannot repeat itself. Industrial scientists have stitched a gene for vein, the surface protein of SARS-CoV-2, into this ‘vector’. Janssen is testing the same Ad26 platform in vaccines against Ebola, HIV, respiratory synthesis virus and Zika. J&J had $ 42 billion in pharmaceutical sales in 2019, making it the sixth largest major pharmaceutical company.
This is an evolving story and will be updated.