J&J to resume U.S. part of COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial
Johnson & Johnson Inc. JNJ, -1.36% said Friday that it will resume enrolling U.S. participants in a late-stage clinical trial for its experimental COVID-19 vaccine following a recent halt.
Following a recommendation from the study’s data safety and monitoring board, J&J said it it is making preparations with the Food and Drug Administration to resume the study in the U.S. The clinical trial, however, is a global one. “Discussions with other regulators around the world to resume the clinical trial program are progressing,” J&J said in a statement.
Last week, J&J paused the study after one of the participants came down with an “unexplained illness.”
“There are many possible factors that could have caused the event,” J&J said. “Based on the information gathered to date and the input of independent experts, the company has found no evidence that the vaccine candidate caused the event.
J&J shares were up 0.3% after hours, following a 0.1% gain to close at $145.24. The stock is down 0.4% for the year, compared with a 0.7% decline on the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -2.51%— of which J&J is a component — and a 7.3% gain on the S&P 500 index SPX, -2.02%.