Johnson & Johnson began trials of its experimental Ebola vaccine in the UK and said it was prepared to produce up to 5 million doses if required.
The New Jersey-based company said in a statement that it has started Phase 1 of its clinical human testing and the first group of volunteers have received the initial dose of the Ebola vaccine in Oxford. The company also projected that enrollment for the trial will be completed by the end of January.
“Initiating this study in the space of eight weeks represents a critical leap forward in being able to rapidly develop an Ebola prime-boost vaccine regimen, and these results will be vital to the design of future studies in broader populations,” said Dr. Matthew Snape of the Oxford Vaccine Group and the study leader.
The move from J&J marks the third vaccine to go into human trials against the Ebola virus, which has infected more than 20 000 people and killed 8 000 people since last year, according to the World Health Organization.
The other two companies which provide a possible protection from the virus are GlaxoSmithKline and Merck, which teamed-up with NewLink to fight the disease.
However, J&Js “prime-boost”, developed in partnership with Bavarian Nordic, differs from rivals treatments and consists of two injections, few weeks apart from each other, aimed at stimulating the immune system.
Durgmakers have picked up the pace in the development of a vaccine to fend off the Ebola virus, which rages on in Sierra Leone, with more than 300 infected during the last week of December.
J&J increased its output target for the year from 1 million doses to 2 million and said it would produce an additional 3 million within the next 12 to 18 months, if needed.
The vaccine provided protection against the virus when it was tested on monkeys, which is a strong identification that it would also work on humans, according to J&Js Chief Scientific Officer Paul Stoffels.
J&J also plans to take trials to the U.S., Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya.
Johnson & Johnson lost 0.70% on Monday and closed at $103.79 in New York. On Tuesday the stock edged up 0.57% to trade at $104.38 at 15:57 GMT, marking a one-year increase of 13.06%. The company is valued at $290.52 billion. According to the Financial Times, the 18 analysts offering 12-month price targets for Johnson & Johnson have a median target of $110.00, with a high estimate of $123.00 and a low estimate of $96.00. The median estimate represents a 5.98% increase from the last close price.
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