Less may be more when it comes to deploying a coronavirus vaccine.
The Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine could have an advantage over Pfizer and Moderna traits, although several weeks are still left for approval in the United States, Wall Street analysts told The Post.
This is because it will probably be easier to distribute the individual blow across the country than the dose regimens of its rivals that are slowly going into the arms of Americans.
“They don’t arrive so late, given that they are firing on a single-dose vaccine, which will certainly be much more convenient,” CFRA Research analyst Sel Hardy told The Post. “They have clear advantages in terms of logistics.”
J&J expects to release data from its large-scale vaccine study in late January and ask federals to remove the shot for emergency use shortly thereafter. That would mean a two-month difference between Pfizer and Moderna, which obtained emergency approvals in mid-December.
J&J, which apparently hopes to have enough vaccines for 100 million Americans in April, is also studying a two-dose regimen, but only one dose elicited an immune response in more than 90% of participants in a trial. initial clinician.
This means that every dose produced by the New Jersey-based company could inoculate a person, potentially doubling its impact compared to the Pfizer and Moderna blows, according to Jeylan Mammadova of Third Bridge.
“If I say that I have the capacity to produce a billion doses … that is, a billion people to whom you vaccinate” with a single vaccine, said Mammadova, leader of the health team of the research firm d ‘investments. “If I make the same statement with Moderna and Pfizer, it will only be half.”
There is another key difference: the J&J trait triggers an immune response in the body by administering a gene for coronavirus “peak” proteins through a common cold virus that cannot cause the receptor to set ill. This is a different method from the so-called messenger RNA found in Modern and Pfizer vaccines.
J&J technology already has a good track record: it was used to develop the company’s Ebola vaccine that European Union regulators approved last July. According to analysts, this could help reassure people who are skeptical about the new features of COVID-19.
“Even though they arrive late, some people might think,‘ Okay, they use a traditional vaccine platform, ’” Hardy said. “There could also be a trust issue, a perception issue, I would say, that could play to your advantage “.
In addition, the J&J vaccine is expected to have a longer shelf life than the Modern one and does not require ultra-cold storage like Pfizer, which must be kept below 94 degrees Fahrenheit to be effective.
J&J estimates that the vaccine will remain stable for at least three months at the standard refrigerator temperature and for two years in a freezer at less than 4 degrees Fahrenheit. Moderna, on the other hand, can last up to 30 days in the fridge and up to six months frozen.
Despite these apparent advantages, analysts do not expect the vaccine to have a big impact on J&J’s end result. The firm has said it plans to make the feature available “non-profit for emergency pandemic use,” and raised about $ 454 million in funding for U.S. government research and development.
J&J will also have to deal with other single-dose COVID vaccines from companies like Merck, which is further behind in development.
“I don’t think it makes any financial difference [J&J] even if it’s a fantastic victory, “Sam Fazeli, a senior pharmaceutical analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence, told The Post.” The question is whether this is something they can earn revenue beyond the pandemic. “