Power Johnson and Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) quickly save to the top of the coronavirus stock list?
It is conceivable, as an entry on the Government’s list of clinical trials shows, that the subsidiary Janssen Vaccines is about to launch a relatively large-scale, phase 3 study of its Ad26.COV2-S vaccine candidate to launch. The estimated start date is September 5, with both the primary and completion dates expected for March 10, 2023.
All told, the Johnson & Johnson / Janssen study aims to involve approximately 60,000 participants with moderate to severe COVID-19, 18 years and older. It will be a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled trial.
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That figure of 60,000 is double the typical late-stage participant number; advance Modern, with its mRNA-1273 candidate, and Pfizer en BioNTech with BNT162b2, both targeted approximately, if at most, 30,000 patients in their respective studies.
While other biotech and pharmaceutical companies are in more advanced testing stages of their coronavirus vaccine candidates, Johnson & Johnson has a particular advantage that it may eventually pull ahead of the pack.
In preclinical tests in primates, Ad26.COV2-S produced high levels of antibodies to fight infection with only a single dose; other vaccine candidates that are further in their development require two doses to produce a similar response.
The “race” of the coronavirus is one of the most visited developments in the healthcare world right now. The outbreak is still quite a threat to global health, and no vaccine has yet been approved for use by any major regulator.
In the late afternoon trading on Thursday, Johnson & Johnson’s stock was up 0.6%, up 0.4% from the S&P 500 index.
