On Monday, Johnson & Johnson said it had selected an experimental vaccine for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel virus, which would move to clinical trials by September.
The company said if the vaccine proves safe and effective, it could be ready for emergency supply and use by the next year.
Johnson & Johnson has teamed up with the U.S. government’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority to invest $1B in an effort to produce a vaccine.
The company started working on the experimental vaccine called Ad26 SARS-CoV-2 in January. It used the same technology that it has used for developing a vaccine for Ebola.
Johnson & Johnson researchers use a deactivated version of the virus in order to trigger a human immune response.
The pharmaceutical company said it has been working on expanding its global manufacturing capacity in the United States as well as other countries so it can supply more than a billion doses of the vaccine across the world.
J&J CEO Alex Gorsky said the company was “well-positioned through our combination of scientific expertise, operational scale and financial strength to bring our resources in collaboration with others to accelerate the fight against this pandemic.”
The company has also been working on antiviral drugs that could treat COVID-19.
Meanwhile, Moderna, Inc., a Massachusetts-based biotechnology company, has already moved into clinical trials for its vaccine. Also, China’s CanSinoBIO has been moved into human trials.
Please note that there are currently no approved vaccines or drugs for the coronavirus.
Researchers have been investigating antiviral drugs such as remdesivir and malarial drugs such as chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, which have shown promising results in treating the coronavirus. However, it is unclear whether they are safe and effective for standard coronavirus care.
