As the race for a viable COVID-19 vaccine intensifies, companies do their best to make it all happen. But sometimes things don’t go as planned. So it seems to be the case of Johnson & Johnson.
The giant announced that it has temporarily halted the #COVID-19 #vaccine candidate clinical trials because one of the participants got sick.
To review and evaluate the participants, an independent company has been hired. Also, the company’s clinical and safety physicians are being monitored. The company didn't provide further information about the matter due to privacy concerns.
However, J&J is not the first company to halt its clinical trial. In September, AstraZeneca paused the late-stage trials of its vaccine developed with the University of Oxford, after a British participant got sick. But the company overcame the incident, and now, its antibody treatment will be funded with $486 million. The pharma company will receive the money from the Trump Administration’s Operation Warp Speed to provide 100,000 doses. Under the agreement, the government could purchase as much as 1 million doses.
“This agreement with the US Government will help accelerate the development of our long-acting antibody combination, which has the potential to provide immediate and long-lasting effect in both preventing and treating COVID-19 infections. We will be evaluating the LAAB combination in different settings from prophylaxis, to outpatient treatment to hospitalization, with a focus on helping the most vulnerable people,” read CEO Pascal Soriot’s statement.
Following the news, during pre-market trading, JnJ stock price dropped 1.56%. AstraZeneca is trading 0.85% lower.
Read here about Eli Lilly and Gilead!
Sources: thestreet.com, finance.yahoo.com