Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine arm Janssen Pharmaceuticals is starting a new, advanced Phase 3 trial of its experimental coronavirus vaccine in Britain, which uses two doses instead of just one to see if that protects people better against infection.
Most of the coronavirus vaccines in late-stage clinical trials around the world require two doses for full protection, including leading candidates being developed by Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Novavax. Janssen’s was the lone single-dose vaccine in Phase 3 trials in the US and Britain.
“They realized now that two doses give you slightly better immunity,” Kate Bingham, a biotechnology expert who is head of the UK Vaccine Taskforce, told reporters in a briefing.
Where will the trial be rolled out: Up to 30,000 people will be enrolled in the new global trial, with participants in Belgium, Colombia, France, Germany, the Philippines, South Africa, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States, the company said in a statement.
“In order to evaluate the efficacy of Janssen’s Covid-19 vaccine candidate, clinical trial sites in countries and areas with high incidence of Covid-19 and the ability to achieve a rapid initiation were selected.”
Two doses: Volunteers will get two shots, 57 days apart, or placebos. The first volunteer was scheduled to be vaccinated in Britain Monday.
“While a potentially effective single-dose preventive Covid-19 vaccine with a good safety profile would have significant benefits, particularly in a pandemic setting, Janssen’s Covid-19 vaccine program has been designed to be extremely thorough and driven by science. As such, we are investigating multiple doses and dosing regimens to evaluate their long-term efficacy,” the company said.
Janssen’s Phase 3 trial paused for two weeks in the US over safety concerns but resumed in October.