After nearly 7 months of monotonous coronavirus madness, four experimental coronavirus vaccines have entered phase 3 of testing in the U.S, and one of them may shock you.
Johnson & Johnson is the fourth experimental COVID-19 shot to enter the final stage of testing in the U.S. after starting a 60,000-person clinical trial, the company said Wednesday.
Based in New Brunswick, N.J., the company said it could acquire revolutionary results from the trial by early next year, which could potentially lead to government authorization of the vaccine for emergency use shortly thereafter, according to the Wall Street Journal. But, in order to conduct the experiment, the company needs adult volunteers; J&J aims to enlist adult volunteers in the U.S, Brazil, South Africa and several other countries.
The trial process for a vaccine is nothing but tedious. In an earlier study, the J&J vaccine showed promising results; however, now the trial must conclude whether a single dose of the vaccine can safely protect people from COVID-19 and help stop the spread. If not, it’s back to the drawing board for J&J.
Not only is the trial process tedious, it’s expensive. Several U.S. government agencies including the National Institute of Health and the Department of Health and Human Services are helping with funding.
Overall, the study is expected to cost around $480 million, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Other companies are working around the clock to figure out the perfect vaccine combination. Moderna Inc. codesigned a vaccine with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which started Phase 3 testing in July; Pfizer Inc. and partner BioNTech SE also started Phase 3 testing in July; AstraZeneca PLC, which licensed a vaccine from the University of Oxford, began Phase 3 trial in August, but the study is on hold due to reviews of a safety matter.
For the first time since March, public health officials are expecting one or more of these vaccines to be successful in the final stages and become available to help stop the rapid spread of the coronavirus. To maximize time, several of these developers have started manufacturing doses that could be ready soon after regulators clear the vaccine for use, according to the Wall Street Journal.
J&J Chief Scientific Officer Paul Stoffels said the vaccine showed positive interim results in inducing immune responses in the first study, and was generally well-tolerated. Vaccine recipients experienced certain side effects, including fever and flu like symptoms, which Dr. Stoffels said weren’t unusual for vaccines.
In the final stages of the study, scientists use an experimental group as well as a placebo group: some subjects will receive the vaccine, and others will receive a placebo, or “fake vaccine.” Researchers will then track the differences in symptoms between the two groups.
According to the Wall Street Journal, J&J signed a $1 billion contract with the government to supply 100 million doses for the U.S, so long as the vaccine proves successful in testing and gets authorized for widespread distribution.
