My Thoughts About the Covid Vaccines
Please read the enclosed article. It is sent to share my thoughts with the best of intentions, because of who you are to me. Of course I am not a doctor, so my opinion about vaccines should be viewed in that context. I have however, had the opportunity to delve into the scientific explanation of many drugs over my Wall St years and am discomforted by Pfizer’s entry.
As a result, although I already qualify to receive Pfizer or Moderna’s vaccine, I’m waiting for JNJ’s vaccine which I expect to be approved for fast-track status very soon. Of course it assumes approval of their trial results which I expect by month end or shortly thereafter.
My reasons are mostly reflected in this article, but include that JNJ has far more experience with safe and efficacious vaccines and is using a technology that they’ve used multiple times in the past for other viruses. Moreover their monkey and human Phase I & II trial results have been very encouraging with minimal problems.
Contrast that with Pfizer which made a deal with a German company that actually developed what is being called “the Pfizer vaccine,” and is using a technology that has never been used before. Plus, I believe I am correct that the German company in question has never produced a successful product until now. In addition, a small but concerning % of people have reported issues.
My feeling is that if timing was not an issue and the two companies were coming out of the starting gate at the same time, there is little doubt that JNJ’s vaccine would be the preference for most people. Of course everyone wants to be safe as soon as possible. But for myself a month more or less after all this time, is worth the wait. Just food for thought.
Sending wishes for safe and peaceful times ahead!
~ Rob
Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 Vaccine Could Alter the Course of the Pandemic. Investors Will Soon Know if It Works
Johnson & Johnson says it can make enough doses of its Covid-19 vaccine this year to inoculate almost a billion people against the virus.
That would be a massive shot in the arm to the effort to end the pandemic—as long as the vaccine works. Its efficacy should become clear in just a few days.
Speaking at an industry conference on Monday, Johnson & Johnson (ticker: JNJ) CEO Alex Gorsky said that the company is in the “final stages” of analyzing the data from its 45,000-patient Phase 3 trial of the single-dose version of its vaccine. Bloomberg also reported on Monday that the study would be ready to submit to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for emergency authorization on Jan. 21, citing a report in a South African newspaper.
“We hope to have that information very soon,” Gorsky said, in reference to the study results, at a panel at J.P. Morgan’s annual health care conference.
The data from that Phase 3 trial, called Ensemble, is perhaps the most-anticipated pharmaceutical study data of the early part of this year. If positive, the results could accelerate the global Covid-19 vaccination effort, boosting the number of available doses and introducing a vaccine option that will be much easier for public health officials to handle.
In other words, it could alter the course of the pandemic.
Unlike the vaccines from Pfizer (PFE) and Moderna (MRNA), which require a two-dose regimen, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is being tested in a single-dose formulation. The vaccine also is not subject to the same cumbersome storage requirements as the two authorized vaccines.
“The JNJ data could be the most influential event of the month given its potential impact on the market and on [Moderna] and [Pfizer] as first-to-market players,” wrote Jefferies health-care trading-desk analyst Jared Holz in an email to investors on Monday. “JNJ, as a single injection that has a less cumbersome supply chain around it, could be very important.”
“Buyside consensus is ~85%+ efficacy” for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, Jefferies analyst Michael Yee wrote in a Jan. 8 note. Less than “85% would be materially weaker,” he said.
If the vaccine performs well enough to receive FDA authorization, but measurably worse than the previously-authorized Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, it could set up dilemmas for health officials and providers. While the Johnson & Johnson vaccine would be easier and cheaper to distribute, patients might balk at getting a vaccine perceived to be less-protective.
In addition to the Ensemble trial, Johnson & Johnson is running another Phase 3 trial of the vaccine, called Ensemble 2, which is testing a two-dose regimen of the vaccine.
Gorsky said in his Monday presentation that the company has a goal of manufacturing “close to 1 billion” doses by the end of this year. If the Ensemble trial data is positive, that would be enough to inoculate close to a billion people. Speaking at a separate presentation on Monday, the CEO of BioNTech (BNTX), which worked with Pfizer on their Covid-19 vaccine, said that the companies hope to manufacture 2 billion doses of their vaccine this year, enough to inoculate 1 billion people.
While it’s not a major manufacturer of vaccines, Johnson & Johnson was the first Big Pharma company to announce a Covid-19 vaccine program back in January of 2020. Its vaccine, which uses an altered version of a cold virus called Ad26 to carry DNA for a piece of the SARS-CoV-2 virus into the patient’s cells, uses a platform that the company had previously used to make an Ebola vaccine.Shares of Johnson & Johnson fell 0.4% on Monday, and were up nearly 0.3% in premarket trading on Tuesday, compared with S&P 500 futures’ gain of 0.2%. The stock is up 8.8% over the past 12 months and trades at 17.8 times earnings expected over the next 12 months, above its 5-year average of 16.4 times earnings. Of the 18 analysts tracked by FactSet who cover the stock, 12 rate it Overweight or a Buy, five rate it a Hold, and one rates it a Sell.
Write to Josh Nathan-Kazis at josh.nathan-kazis@barrons.com
My Thoughts About the Covid Vaccines
My Thoughts About the Covid Vaccines
And if you happen to be a fan of Louise L. Hay or other forward thinkers/authors like her, you may appreciate my new journal of life affirming aphorisms called Thoughts to Live By. They are meant to be a tool to start or end the day, or referenced to calm the raging beast when life events throw us off balance, ie: a possibly useful antidote during these challenging times.
Kirkus Reviews, the gold-standard for independent & accurate reviews, has this to say about
What Goes Around Comes Around:
A stable, positive, non preachy, objective voice makes the book stand apart from others in the genre. The author gives readers not just points or principles to ponder, but real human experiences that demonstrate them. A successful guide that uses anecdotes to reveal powerful truths about life.
~ Kirkus Reviews
“A stable, positive, non-preachy, objective voice makes the manual stand apart from others in the genre. A successful guide that uses anecdotes to reveal powerful truths about life.” – Kirkus Reviews
“I’ve read a number of books that focus on sharing a similar message, including “The Secret” by Rhonda Byrne, “The Answer” by John Assaraf & Murray Smith, “The Celestine Prophecy” by James Redfield, “Think and Grow Rich,” by Napoleon Hill, and I must say that I find Rob’s to be my favorite.” – Sheryl Woodhouse, founder of Livelihood Matters LLC