The U.K.’s medicines regulator on Friday approved Janssen’s single-dose COVID-19 vaccine for use.
Janssen is a pharmaceutical company of Johnson & Johnson. (NYSE:JNJ)
Britain’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said in a statement that doses were expected to be available in the U.K. later this year.
The British government’s Vaccine Taskforce has secured 20 million doses to be rolled out across the U.K. Initially, it had secured 30 million doses but amended the order as the vaccination program continues at what the government described as an "unprecedented scale and pace."
Earlier this year, the vaccine was found to be 67% effective in preventing infections and 85% effective in preventing severe cases of COVID-19 and hospitalizations.
The vaccine can be stored in refrigerators between two to eight degrees Celsius, making its storage and transportation easier than some alternative vaccines.
The Janssen vaccine is the fourth to be authorized for use in the U.K., joining the Oxford-AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZ), Pfizer-BioNTech (NYSE:PFE) (NASDAQ:BNTX) and Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) alternatives in being approved by the MHRA.
The Vaccine Taskforce has secured early access to more than 500 million doses of eight vaccine candidates, including those being developed by Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX), GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK) and CureVac, as well as the four the U.K. has already approved for use.
Janssen’s Covid-19 vaccine is currently involved in a government study to assess the safety and efficacy of giving people a third dose to boost their immunity to the virus. The Oxford-AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines all require two doses for patients to reach optimum immunity.
Parent company Johnson & Johnson shares gained 99 cents early Friday to $169.80.
