Replies to post #234790 on Biotech Values

[DewDiligence]

Re: Which vaccine?

If I hadn’t already had COVID-19 pneumonia, I would opt for a vaccine that’s capable of being re-administered, which excludes the one from AZN and some others.

p.s. I followed Florian Krammer on Twitter during the first few months of the pandemic, but I now prefer to maintain a “leaner” stream.

[biocqr]

JNJ > As Johnson & Johnson kick-starts phase 3 COVID-19 test, early data show up its promise

https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/as-johnson-johnson-kickstarts-phase-3-covid-test-early-data-shows-up-its-promise

Johnson & Johnson has posted an early peek at its phase 1/2 trial data for its pandemic vaccine hopeful that last week started late-stage tests.

Preprint: https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.09.23.20199604v1.full.pdf

The test was split across several cohorts and focused in on both one and two shots spaced by 56 days in healthy adults and healthy elderly subjects.

In cohorts 1a and 1b, subjects were 18-55 years old and 400-strong, while cohort 3, the healthy elderly (here, 65 years old or older), was 394-strong.

J&J reported that the low dose produced a broadly similar immune response to the high dose. “A single dose of Ad26.COV2.S elicited strong humoral responses in the vast majority of vaccine recipients,” it says in the preprint, which has not been peer reviewed.

The vaccine also had 98% detectable neutralizing antibodies against the wild-type virus after 29 days. But as immune response results were only reported through 15 participants over 65 years old, this restricts how much we can take away from its efficacy.

If the one-dose regimen is successful, J&J could eliminate the logistical complexity and dropouts associated with trying to get people to return for a second shot.

A one-shot regimen would also enable J&J to vaccinate 1 billion people each year. Few manufacturers of two-dose regimens can match that figure, giving J&J an edge despite being several months behind the leading vaccine pack.

[Biowatch]

In an ideal world, they'll collect enough data to know who would benefit most from which vaccine.

(Men? Women? Old? Young? People with heart disease? Diabetes?)

Given that collecting such details may be beyond the scope of many of these trials, don't lose sight of the fact that within two or three years, you may be able to get more than one type of vaccine.

None of these companies has scaled up enough to provide everyone in the US with a vaccine any time soon, let alone enough to meet the world wide demand.

Take it as a given that different people will receive different types of vaccines depending on their location and circumstances.

This may be a good thing.

Time will tell.