J&J starts two-dose trial of Covid-19 candidate vaccine in UK
J&J starts two-dose trial of its COVID-19 candidate vaccine in the UK
LONDON (Reuters) – Johnson & Johnson launched a new late-stage trial in Britain on Monday to test a two-dose regimen of its experimental COVID-19 vaccine among thousands of volunteers, as the U.S. drugmaker expands its trials by geography and type.
The UK arm of the study is aiming to recruit 6,000 participants among a total of 30,000 people globally, scientists leading the UK trial said. Volunteers will be recruited at 17 sites across the UK.
They will be given a first dose of either a placebo or the experimental shot, currently called Ad26COV2, followed by a second dose or placebo 57 days later, said Saul Faust, a professor of paediatric immunology and infectious diseases who is co-leading the trial at University Hospital Southampton.
J&J signed an agreement for the two-dose global Phase III clinical trial with the British government in August, to run in parallel with a 60,000-person trial of a single shot of the experimental vaccine which was launched in September.
If the results of the single-shot trial are positive, the company said it could simplify distribution of millions of doses compared with leading rivals requiring two doses. The efficacy of a double-dose vaccine could be affected if people fail to return to get their a second shot.
Rival drugmakers Pfizer and BioNtech said last week that their potential COVID-19 shot showed more than 90% efficacy in interim data from a late-stage trial, boosting hopes that vaccines against the pandemic disease may be ready for use soon.
While the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine uses a new technology known as messenger RNA, J&J’s uses a cold virus to deliver genetic material from the coronavirus into the body to prompt an immune response.
Reuters source: