Johnson & Johnson’s (JNJ) – Get report The single-shot candidate vaccine has been shown to be safe and generate a significant immune response in an early-stage test, according to a report published on Wednesday.
A single injection of the vaccine “gives sustainable antibodies,” said Dr. Paul Stoffels, scientific director at J&J, to CNBC. The results gave the company “confidence” that the vaccine will be effective, Stoffels told CNBC.
The results of the phase 1-2 trials were published on Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine candidate is undergoing phase 3 tests as well to determine its actual effectiveness. The results of that study are expected later this month.
If successful and approved, the vaccine would become the third available to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, which remains out of control in the United States and much of the world.
Nearly 400,000 Americans died of the disease and more than 22 million were infected.
A vaccine jointly developed by Pfizer (PFE) – Get report and BioNTech (BNTX) – Get report gained approval for emergency use last month along with a second Moderna vaccine (MRNA) – Get report. Both require monitoring of booster doses and are stored at very low temperatures, complicating the distribution and launch of vaccines. The United States is lagging far behind planned vaccination schedules, which required 20 million vaccines to be administered by the end of December. Only about 10 million have done so far.
The Johnson and Johnson vaccine requires only a single injection and can be stored at higher temperatures. However, its launch is also delayed and is unlikely to actually start until April, due to manufacturing delays, assuming it is cleared for use by the FDA.
Johnson and Johnson’s shares rose 1.08% to $ 159.60 in Wednesday’s trading session.