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Reuters
- Johnson & Johnson fell as much as 3% on Tuesday after it announced it halted its COVID-19 vaccine trial due to a participant’s “unexplained illness.”
- “Adverse events (illnesses, accidents, etc.), even those that are serious, are an expected part of any clinical trial, especially large studies,” Johnson & Johnson said in a statement.
- The lull in the trial overshadowed its third-quarter earnings results released Tuesday, which beat analyst estimates. It also raised its guidance for the entire year.
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Investors’ laser focus on COVID-19 vaccine trials became apparent Tuesday as Johnson & Johnson fell as much as 3% in premarket trading despite reporting better-than-expected third-quarter earnings.
On Monday night, the healthcare giant said it halted its COVID-19 phase three vaccine trial due to a participant’s “unexplained illness.”
The company said it did not know if the participant was in the placebo arm or the vaccine arm of the trial and was awaiting a review of the disease by an independent data and safety monitoring board.
Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine is being developed by its unit at Janssen Pharmaceuticals, and its phase three trial involves 60,000 participants.
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While investors were bitter about the vaccine trial pause, they may find comfort in Johnson & Johnson’s third-quarter earnings report.
These are the key numbers:
Income: $ 21.08 billion, compared to the estimate of $ 20.2 billion
Adjusted earnings per share: $ 2.20, compared to the estimate of $ 1.98
In addition to earnings, the company raised its revenue guidance for fiscal 2020 to a range of $ 81.2 billion to $ 82 billion from a range of $ 79.9 billion to $ 81.4 billion. He raised his adjusted EPS guidance to between $ 7.95 and $ 8.05 from between $ 7.75 and $ 7.95.
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Strong earnings results helped reduce some of the drop related to the test pause, but the stock was still trading 1% lower just before the market opened.
Investors are likely to remove Johnson & Johnson from the sanctions box once the trial resumes.
The company reminded investors that an adverse event in a trial of 60,000 patients is not extraordinary.
“Adverse events (illnesses, accidents, etc.), even those that are serious, are an expected part of any clinical trial, especially large studies,” Johnson & Johnson said in a statement.
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