Shireen Singh
Since the outbreak Johnson & Johnson has been with industry partners, governments and health authorities to fight the COVID-19 pandemic by developing preventive vaccine against SARS-CoV-2.
1.Johnson & Johnson announced on March 30, 2020, that a lead COVID-19 vaccine candidate (with two back-ups) has been identified from constructs we have been working on since January 2020.
2.The acceleration should allow J&J to take part in the massive clinical trials program planned by the U.S. government, which aims to have an effective vaccine by year end.
3.There are currently no U.S. approved treatments or vaccines for the virus which has infected more than 7.2 million people and killed over 412,000 globally, while destroying economies worldwide.
4.J&J’s study will test the vaccine for safety and early signs of efficiency in 1,045 healthy volunteers aged 18 to 55 years, and in those aged 65 and older. The trial will take place in the United States and Belgium.
5.The company says the randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials will start in the second half of July.
6.There are about 10 coronavirus vaccines in human testing. Experts have said a safe and effective vaccine could take at least 12 to 18 months from the start of development, which would shave several years off the typical vaccine development timeline.
7.Shares of Johnson & Johnson were up 1.1% at $147.67 in morning trading.The company promised to supply more than one billion doses of its COVID-19 vaccine globally if it would be deemed as safe and effective.
