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Johnson & Johnson’s Single-Shot Vaccine
Johnson & Johnson’s Single-Shot Vaccine
Written By: Paphapin Pairojtanachai
Apart from Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and AstraZeneca and Oxford, medical device company Johnson & Johnson is one of the other pharmaceutical companies that are developing the COVID-19 vaccine. Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine is known as JNJ-78436735 or Ad26.COV2.S, and is being tested by Janssen Pharmaceutica, a division of Johnson & Johnson based in Belgium, in cooperation with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
The JNJ-78436735 contains the genetic information that the coronavirus uses to build its spike proteins — its weapon for entering human cells. Pfizer and Moderna used the same strategy for their vaccines; however, these companies stored the information in single-stranded RNA, whereas Johnson & Johnson stores it in double-stranded DNA. This piece of DNA is then added to a common cold virus, called Adenovirus 26, which has been modified so that it can enter human cells but cannot replicate or cause illness. Once the adenovirus enters the cell, it injects its gene into the cell’s nucleus so that the DNA can be read and the cell can begin its assembly of the coronavirus’ spike proteins. The entire process alarms the host’s immune system, provoking an immune response against the coronavirus. This adenovirus technique was first employed in the production of the vaccine for Ebola, which was also made by Johnson & Johnson. It was recently utilized by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca in designing the coronavirus vaccine as well.
Due to the usage of DNA and adenoviruses, Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine is not as fragile as those of Pfizer and Moderna, making it advantageous. Since DNA is stronger in structure than RNA and the tough protein coat of the adenovirus can protect the genetic code, the vaccine can be stored in the refrigerator at a temperature of 2-8°C for up to three months. In addition, unlike how Pfizer, Moderna, and AstraZeneca’s vaccines require two doses, Johnson & Johnson is testing a single-shot vaccine. In its late-stage clinical trial, over 90% of the participants’ immune response “lasted for the full 71 days of the trial.” When compared to the other COVID-19 vaccines, the amount of neutralizing antibodies formed are in the same range. This means that Johnson & Johnson’s “vaccine has the potential to become the first that can protect people after just one shot, making mass-vaccination campaigns much easier.”
Paul Stoffels, Johnson & Johnson’s chief scientific officer, said that the company had aimed for the vaccine to be 70% effective — well above the 50% standard — but according to early results from the trial of 45,000 volunteers, they may be able to achieve a higher efficacy. Here are several positive news about this vaccine candidate:
Its properties offer easy distribution and administration.
A second booster shot administered two months after the first shot can possibly increase the number of neutralizing antibodies three-fold.
Although older individuals are more vulnerable to the disease than younger people, there was no difference in the immune response activated by the young and the old during the trials.
The most frequent side effects of the vaccine include fever, fatigue, headache, muscle pain, and pain around the injection site.
Johnson & Johnson anticipates announcing its phase 3 trial data by late January, and applying for emergency use authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by February or March.
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