Johnson & Johnson will likely have a Covid-19 vaccine available to children under 18 by September, says CEO Alex Gorsky.
“I think it is likely to happen well in that timeline. The good news is that the FDA is already working with companies to establish clear regulatory guidelines, so that the appropriate data can be collected, ”Gorsky told David Ignatius during a live Washington Post event on Wednesday
Gorksy said one of the benefits of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is that this specific type of vaccine has been used in younger age groups before.
“AdVac 26 was used extensively among large age groups, young and old in Africa, when we were developing it for other conditions, such as Ebola and HIV. So, this gives us reasons to be optimistic about the safety profile of this patient population, but we still have to do the clinical work ”, he said.
Last week, Johnson & Johnson announced its plans to study the vaccine in adolescents. Gorsky says the test will start on people aged 12 to 18 and will decline thereafter.
“We will conduct a number of immunogenicity and safety studies in 17-year-old children up to newborns,” said Dr. Macaya Douoguih, head of clinical development and medical affairs for the J&J Janssen vaccine arm, to an advisory committee at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention for the last week.
“We are also looking at a study in pregnant women in the second and third trimesters in late March, early April,” said Douoguih. “We also plan to start a study in immunocompromised individuals in the third quarter of this year.”
Both Pfizer and Moderna are testing their mRNA-based Covid-19 vaccines in children.