Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) today announced results from a trial of its HIV vaccine demonstrating a lack of sufficient protection against infection. New Brunswick, N.J.–based Johnson & Johnson’s Imbokodo Phase 2b HIV vaccine clinical trial found that the investigational vaccine regimen did not provide sufficient protection against HIV infection in a 2,600-person population of young…
Janssen COVID-19 booster leads to nine-fold increase in neutralizing antibodies
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) has announced that a booster of its viral-vector COVID-19 vaccine led to considerable increases in coronavirus spike-binding antibodies, according to interim data from two Phase 1/2 trials known as VAC31518COV1001 and VAC31518COV2001. In particular, the boosters led to a nine-fold increase in antibodies relative to levels 28 days after administering the prime…
J&J’s Gorsky to step down as CEO
Citing “family health reasons,” Johnson & Johnson’s Alex Gorsky will hand the CEO role over to Joaquin Duato, current vice-chair of the company’s executive committee, at the start of the new year. Gorsky oversaw a near-decade of significant growth at the medtech and pharma giant. His tenure ultimately will be capped off by Johnson &…
J&J beats The Street in Q2, raises guidance
An accelerated rebound in medical device sales helped drive Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) second-quarter results that topped the consensus forecast. The New Brunswick, N.J.-based company posted profits of $6.3 billion, or $2.35 per share, on sales of $23.3 billion for the three months ended June 30, 2021, for a 73.1% bottom-line gain on sales growth of 27.1%…
FDA links J&J vaccine to rare cases of Guillain–Barré
The Food and Drug Administration has concluded that the COVID-19 vaccine from Johnson & Johnson’s (NYSE:JNJ) could rarely cause Guillain–Barré syndrome in which the immune system attacks the nervous system. A warning is forthcoming, according to media reports. Researchers have also linked prior vaccines, including a swine flu vaccine introduced in the 1970s, with the syndrome, which destroys…
Johnson & Johnson launches research partnerships network
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) announced today that it has launched the J&J Centers for Global Health Discovery, a global network of research partnerships to address the world’s health challenges. The first J&J Satellite Center for Global Health Discovery is at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. The pharma and medtech giant plans to…
J&J COVID-19 vaccine protects against Delta variant
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) has announced that a single shot of its COVID-19 vaccine offers significant protection against the transmissible Delta variant. The vaccine also provides an immune response lasting at least eight months. The announcement coincides with the company filing two preprint studies to bioRxiv. The first analyzes blood samples from eight patients in…
6 pharma firms rank among Glassdoor’s 2021 Best Places to Work
Glassdoor has released its latest list of the top 100 best places to work in 2021, and six pharmaceutical companies made the cut. One thread running across the entries in the entire list is the employers’ ability to empower and inspire workers in a time of continued challenges. In addition to the pharma companies, the Glassdoor ranking…
Why Janssen believes next-gen drug Tremfya can meet unmet needs in psoriasis and beyond
Two decades ago, psoriasis was a poorly understood condition. Treatment options for severe psoriasis included powerful immunosuppressant agents such as methotrexate and cyclosporin that can have significant side effects. But the fact those immunosuppressant drugs were effective at treating psoriasis helped pave the way to use biologics to treat the condition. The experience “really taught…
Top J&J exec moves to Moderna
Moderna (NSDQ:MRNA) announced today that former Johnson & Johnson executive Dr. Paul Burton will join as chief medical officer. Cambridge, Mass.-based Moderna said in a news release that Burton assumes the role of CMO effective July 6, 2021, and he will serve on the company’s executive committee and report to CEO Stéphane Bancel. “Paul’s extensive…
Almost one-quarter of Americans remain vaccine-hesitant
A study from Informa Pharma Intelligence and YouGov concluded that vaccine hesitancy remains a significant hurdle in the U.S. A separate study published in JAMA indicates vaccine hesitancy is falling. Specifically, the number of people who were suspicious about COVID-19 vaccines fell from 46% in October 2020 to 35% in March 2021. Conversely, the Informa-YouGov…
10 of the best pharma companies to work for
The pharmaceutical industry is on the upswing and is poised to have a compound annual growth rate of 13.7% from 2020 to 2027, according to projections from Grand View Research. The industry’s resurgence is a good opportunity for employees in the sector, who frequently enjoy comfortable salaries. To get a sense of which pharmaceutical companies…
FDA approves Janssen’s Rybrevant for subset of non-small cell lung cancer
Rybrevant, a novel fully-human bispecific antibody from the Janssen division of Johnson & Johnson, became the first treatment for people with non-small cell lung cancer with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) exon 20 insertion mutations. In particular, the indication covers such cancer that has progressed on or after platinum-based chemotherapy. The agency also approved the…
25 promising pipeline drugs
The pandemic has heightened interest in COVID-19 therapies, sometimes stealing attention from other pharmaceutical breakthroughs. But the pandemic has also served as a reminder that investment in new drugs can pay dividends while leading to a greater societal appreciation for the industry. A 2019 study published in International Health concluded that pharmaceuticals that have launched…
Pharma 50: Here’s how the world’s largest pharma companies are doing
The global pharmaceutical industry held up well during the pandemic, with 10 of the largest businesses only seeing a roughly –3% drop in revenue in 2020. Eight of the 10 even came out ahead. That’s one of the big takeaways from Drug Discovery & Development’s inaugural Pharma 50, a compilation of data on the largest…
How PhysIQ is advancing digital therapeutics through its partnership with Janssen
A partnership with J&J’s Janssen Pharmaceuticals is helping PhysIQ advance with its device-agnostic clinical data collection and analysis platform. Over the course of the last year and some change, the impact of digital health and the need for it has increased by an immeasurable amount. Virtual care became the norm after the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and, although…
Phase 3 Tremfya results are promising for plaque psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis
Johnson & Johnson’s (NYSE:JNJ) pharmaceutical subsidiary Janssen has announced that its Tremfya (guselkumab) selective interleukin (IL)-23 inhibitor therapy led to durable, complete skin clearance in the majority of adults with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis (PsO) for up to five years. The drug also showed substantial efficacy in treating active psoriatic arthritis (PsA) for up to one…
FDA, CDC lift pause on J&J COVID-19 vaccine
The FDA and CDC have lifted the pause placed on the Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) COVID-19 vaccine after reports of blood clots caused concern. On April 13, the FDA and CDC issued a joint statement recommending the pause in the administration of the J&J (Janssen) COVID-19 vaccine after, among 6.8 million doses delivered in the…
Why demand for J&J and AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines remains unclear
After the European Medicines Agency determined that the benefits of Johnson & Johnson’s (NYSE:JNJ) COVID-19 vaccine outweigh its risks, the company announced that it would unfreeze its European vaccinate rollout. But assessing demand for the J&J and AstraZeneca vaccines remains difficult. The possible link to rare blood clots could elevate the role of vaccines from…
Benefits of J&J COVID-19 vaccine outweigh risks, EU regulator says
The European Medicines Agency confirmed that the benefits of the COVID-19 vaccine from Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) outweigh risks of blood clots. At a meeting today, EMA’s safety committee (PRAC) concluded that there is a link between unusual blood clots with low blood platelets with the COVID-19 vaccine made by J&J’s Janssen Pharmaceuticals unit. PRAC…
J&J reportedly asked COVID-19 vaccine developers to study blood clot risks
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) privately contacted other COVID-19 vaccine makers last week to gauge their interest in studying blood clot risks, according to a Wall Street Journal report. Specifically, the company asked whether its rivals — AstraZeneca, Moderna and Pfizer— had new information about blood clots following vaccination and if they were interested in forming an external panel…
A quick history of the tech behind J&J, AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccines
Regulatory authorities in the U.S. and Europe have either paused or constrained the use of COVID-19 vaccines from AstraZeneca (LON:AZN) and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), causing some to wonder why the adenoviral-vector vaccines have been potentially linked to similar blood clotting events. Researchers have observed blood clotting events associated with adenoviral vectors since the late-1990s…
Vaccine panel postpones vote on J&J COVID-19 vaccine
A CDC advisory committee decided not to vote on how Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine should be deployed, reasoning that it needs more time to review data related to rare blood clots potentially linked to the vaccine. The CDC and FDA announced on April 13 their recommendation to pause the vaccine’s use on safety grounds.…
EU won’t renew J&J, AstraZeneca vaccine contracts, report says
Reports from Italy claim that the European Union Commission won’t renew COVID-19 vaccine contracts next year with AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson. According to Reuters, Italian outlet La Stampa reported that sources from the Italian health ministry have said the commission does not want to pursue contract renewals with those two companies once those encompassing the…
Pfizer to boost vaccine production for U.S. by 10%
Pfizer will deliver 10% more of its COVID-19 vaccine to the U.S. by the end of May than originally planned, its CEO tweeted yesterday. The tweet follows the federal government’s decision to recommend a temporary halt in the distribution of Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine, which has been tied to rare instances of blood clot…