Johnson & Johnson to launch own Covid vaccine in 2021
The pharma giant plans to launch its own vaccine by March.
According to the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) could partner with Moderna (Nasdaq: MRNA) and Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) in producing COVID-19 vaccines by the end of March 2021. Fauci said more companies could get FDA approval for their vaccines and by the end of the first quarter of 2021 the availability of the vaccine could increase beyond 100 doses. The comments come against the background that the US FDA advisory board has approved an emergency approval for Pfizer's vaccine candidate against SARS-CoV-2. It is likely that the FDA will follow the advice of the panel, which includes public health experts, scientific experts, and data scientists. After Pfizer's approval, Moderna's coronavirus vaccine could also soon receive the Emergency Use Authorization, laying the foundations for the approval of two vaccines. Fauci says the top two vaccine manufacturers could ship up to 100 million doses early next year. Moderna and Pfizer could produce and ship up to 40 million doses in December and around 60 million in early 2021. Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine is in the final phase of clinical trials and could increase the number of available doses in late first quarter 2021 and early second quarter. Unlike the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, which require two vaccinations, the JNJ vaccine only requires a single vaccination. The company recently announced the downsizing of its Phase 3 clinical trial in the US as the number of COVID-19 cases in the US increased. The rise in infections has given participants the opportunity to come into contact with the coronavirus, which allows the company to evaluate the vaccine in a small population of participants. The company said preliminary data from the ENSEMBLE study will be available in January 2021. If the results show the vaccine is effective and safe, Johnson & Johnson could file an emergency approval in February next year. Fauci is optimistic that Johnson & Johnson's vaccine could be available in the second quarter of 2021.