Johnson & Johnson expects COVID-19 vaccine data next week

by

Trials of Johnson & Johnson’s one-shot Covid vaccine could produce results next WEEK adding a fourth approved jab to Britain’s arsenal with 30million doses on order

  • UK has deal for 30million doses, with the option of ordering 22million more
  • Government scientists believe it will be rolled out in Britain starting mid-Feb 
  • Uses same technology as Oxford University, so it is easy to store and transport

By Connor Boyd Assistant Health Editor For Mailonline

Published: | Updated:

Johnson and Johnson will publish results from phase three trials of its one-shot coronavirus vaccine next week, the company announced last night.

The jab uses similar technology to the Oxford University vaccine, making it just as easy to transport and store, but requires just a single injection to protect against Covid. 

Government scientists expect the vaccine, made by Janssen, the Belgian arm of the US pharmaceutical giant, could be given emergency authorisation and rolled out in Britain by mid-February.

The UK has already struck a deal for 30million doses, with the option of ordering 22million more. 

If approved, it would be the third Covid jab in the UK’s arsenal and could significantly speed up the programme which has been held back by supply shortages. 

A fourth jab, made my US firm Moderna, sealed approval earlier this month but doses won’t arrive until March because of an exclusive deal with the American Government. 

Johnson and Johnson will publish results from phase three trials of its one-shot coronavirus vaccine next week, the company announced last night 

The jab uses similar technology to the Oxford University vaccine, making it just as easy to transport and store, but requires just a single injection to protect against Covid

The jab uses similar technology to the Oxford University vaccine, making it just as easy to transport and store, but requires just a single injection to protect against Covid  

Developed by Janssen, the vaccine uses a harmless adenovirus to deliver genetic material that tricks the human body into producing proteins known as antigens, normally found on the coronavirus’s surface, helping the immune system develop an arsenal against infection. 

Like the Oxford jab, which also uses adenoviral vectors, it can be stored and transported in normal fridges.

However the key difference is that the J&J jab is designed to be effective as a single dose, whereas Oxford and Pfizer’s is given in two shots three or more weeks apart.

If trials show it is effective at blocking Covid, it will become the first approved jab to work in a single injection and could rapidly speed up mass immunisation plans. 

The 30million doses already ordered by the UK could be enough to reach almost half of the population.

Researchers are now combing through their latest data and could, if it shows the vaccine is effective, file it for approval from UK, US and EU regulators in the coming weeks.

Johnson and Johnson has said it is ready to ship doses from its factories in Europe as soon as it gets the seal of approval.

The US firm launched a separate trial of the jab in November to see if it was even better and lasts longer when administered in two doses. That trial is involving 30,000 volunteers around the world, including 6,000 Brits. 

Sir John Bell, regius professor at Oxford University and an adviser to the UK’s Vaccine Taskforce, said earlier this month the Johnson and Johnson vaccine will ‘work well’ and become available in time for the mid-February target.

He told The Telegraph: ‘I think they will have supplies available for the UK in a time frame that would allow it just to catch the mid-February target of getting the numbers up.

‘I think it may well have a material impact on what we can do in the UK to get more people vaccinated.’  

HOW DOES THE J&J VACCINE WORK? 

Johnson and Johnson’s vaccine is made from a weakened version of a common cold virus (adenovirus).

The team have modified the adenovirus so it can enter cells but can’t replicate inside them or cause illness.    

Researchers have already used this technology to produce vaccines against a number of pathogens including flu, Zika and Middle East respiratory syndrome (Mers). 

After the J&J vaccine is injected into a person’s arm, the adenoviruses enter human cells and travel to their nuclei, the chamber where the cell’s DNA is stored. 

The vaccine are programmed to carry the genetic code of the coronavirus’s ‘spike protein’, which Sars-CoV-2 uses to invade the body.

Iit uses this genetic code to trick the body into mounting an immune response, priming the immune system to attack coronavirus if the real virus infects the body.