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Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 7%, Human Testing of Coronavirus Vaccine to Begin by September

Multinational pharmaceutical firm Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) on Monday announced that human trial of its experimental vaccine for ravaging coronavirus will start September and would be ready for emergency use authorization early next year.

After Johnson and Johnson made the announcement, the firm’s JNJ stock has continued to surge, rising over 7%.

Beyond Johnson & Johnson vaccine, the firm also pledged over $1 billion of investment in partnership with the federal biomedical Advanced research and Development Authority. The fund is said to be used to co-fund research for the vaccine with the department of health and human services.

Reportedly, the lead candidate for testing the vaccine will begin the 1st phase human clinical study by September. And clinical data on how the vaccine works on the candidate is to be ready before the end of the year. The success of the vaccine will ensure it is made available early next year for emergency use.

The firm also revealed that they are increasing manufacturing capacity with additional sites in the United States and other countries to enhance the production and distribution of the prospective vaccine as soon as possible.

“We have very good early indicators that not only can we depend on this to be a safe vaccine base but also one that will ultimately be effective based on all the early testing and modeling we’ve been doing,” Chairman and CEO Alex Gorsky said on Monday speaking to CNBC. “This is a bit of a moonshot for J&J going forward, but it’s one we feel is very, very important for us to be doing at this period in time.”

Ultimately, he said that the firm is pursuing the vaccine without aiming to make profit. However, he did not reveal the amount any consumer will get the vaccine eventually.

Following the firm’s announcement of its vaccine, it has recorded a 4% surge in pre-marketing trading. JNJ has also continued to rise since the trading opened today. Johnson & Johnson stock fell 20% after it hit its all-time high in February. However, it is still experiencing a 7% annual deficit with today’s rally appearing to have lost steam below its 20-day moving average. Also, the share price is now around 13% above the March 23 low of $109.16 in a short-term rebound.

Analysts have expressed optimism in the firm’s stock, as from a total of 15, 11 analysts rated it buy or better. The other four analysts spot a hold position with none encouraging selling now. Also, the firm’s consensus 12-month price target of $159.18 is a respectable 29.2% premium to its current level.

The firm’s stock last week closed at $123, 15% down. But at teh time of writing, JNJ stock is rising by 7% and is trading at $131.82.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Up 7%, Human Testing of Coronavirus Vaccine to Begin by September

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