Pharmaceutical giant Johnson and Johnson said Wednesday it will accelerate the development of its COVID-19 vaccine by launching human trials in late July instead of September.
The study will examine the investigational vaccine’s safety and its ability to produce an immune response in more than 1,000 adults in the U.S. and Belgium, the company said.
J&J’s chief scientific officer, Dr. Paul Stoffels, said its Janssen division sped up the timeline based on “the strength of the preclinical data we have seen so far and interactions with the regulatory authorities.”
It wants to provide 1 billion doses globally through the course of 2021, provided the vaccine is safe and effective.
“Our goal is to ensure we can deliver a vaccine to the world and protect people everywhere from this pandemic,” Dr. Stoffels said.
The announcement is the latest twist in the unusually speedy race to develop an antidote to the coronavirus that’s infected more than 7 million people worldwide and killed over 400,000. About a quarter of the deaths have been recorded in the U.S.
President Trump launched “Operation Warp Speed” with the hope of accelerating the development of a vaccine — a process that typically takes several years. He wants to see a vaccine by the end of the year.
“President Trump looked at the timelines that all of these players in the pharmaceutical industry and elsewhere said would be needed to bring all of these products to market, and he said, ‘That’s not acceptable,’” Health Secretary Alex Azar said in a video-update Wednesday.
The administration is eyeing five leading candidates — beyond J&J, there is work being done by Moderna Inc.; Oxford University in partnership with AstraZeneca; Pfizer and Merck, according to The New York Times.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, confirmed on Wednesday there could be a vaccine available either by the end of 2020 or early next year.
“That’s the thing that makes me feel confident that the process is really on track and that’s good news,” he said on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” “Again, in the context of never being able to guarantee success, things are clearly going in the right direction.”
• David Sherfinski contributed to this report.
