Johnson & Johnson Archives - Page 32 of 33

What are the top COVID-19 vaccine candidates?

This colorized scanning electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2 (round blue objects), the virus that causes COVID-19, emerging from the surface of cells cultured in the lab. [Image courtesy of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases]

As of yesterday, five COVID-19 vaccine candidates had begun Phase III clinical trials as they seek to determine the safety and efficacy of their formulas.

Researchers worldwide are testing 132 COVID-19 vaccine candidates, including 42 that are in clinical trials on humans and at least 92 in preclinical or animal trials, according to the New York Times.

With the U.S. alone topping 200,000 COVID-19 deaths this week and continued pressure to deliver a safe and effective vaccine, these companies and several others are working very quickly to make a vaccine that meets regulatory standards. Seven pharma companies have received funding for vaccine development and…

J&J launches fourth large-scale COVID-19 vaccine trial

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) has begun enrollment of adult volunteers for a fourth Phase 3 clinical trial of a COVID-19 vaccine candidate.

The National Institutes of Health announced today that J&J’s Janssen Pharmaceuticals COVID-19 vaccine candidate (JNJ-78436725) has begun the Phase 3 trial to evaluate if it can prevent symptomatic COVID-19 after a single dose regimen.

Get the full story at our sister site, MassDevice.

Johnson & Johnson’s Cerenovus launches new clot removal devices to treat stroke

Johnson & Johnson’s Cerenovus recently announced it has launched its new stroke solutions platform that includes three devices for clot removal procedures.

The three devices are designed to aid physicians in performing mechanical thrombectomy procedures. The devices include the Cerebase DA Guide Sheath, Cerenovus Large Bore Catheter and Embotrap III Revascularization Device.

Get the full story on our sister site, Medical Tubing + Extrusion.

Drug companies agree not to release COVID-19 vaccine until it’s ready

[Photo by Fusion Medical Animation on Unsplash]

Executives from nine different drug companies today announced a pledge to ensure safety with a potential COVID-19 vaccine.

The CEOs of AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN), BioNTech (NSDQ:BNTX), GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), Merck (NYSE:MRK), Moderna (NSDQ:MRNA), Novavax (NSDQ:NVAX), Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) and Sanofi (NYSE:SNY), all of whom are developing vaccine candidates, all signed the pledge, which vows to “uphold the integrity of the scientific process” as they pursue regulatory approvals of the first vaccines for the novel coronavirus.

Get the full story at our sister site, MassDevice.

Johnson & Johnson to acquire Momenta for $6.5B

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) announced today that it entered into an agreement to purchase Momenta Pharmaceuticals (NSDQ:MNTA) for $6.5 billion.

New Brunswick, N.J.-based Johnson & Johnson will stump up the $6.5 billion in an all-cash transaction for the developer of novel therapies for immune-mediated diseases, according to a news release.

Momenta felt the full effect of the news of the acquisition breaking, as shares of MNTA were trading up 69.2% at $52.13 per share in late-afternoon trading today.

The acquisition is seen by Johnson & Johnson as an opportunity for its Janssen Pharmaceutical subsidiary to broaden its work in immune-mediated disease and drive growth through expansion into autoantibody-driven diseases.

Included in the acquisition are the full global rights to Momenta’s nipocalimab (M281) anti-FcRn antibody, for which Janssen plans to pursue indications across autoimmune diseases with unmet medical needs in materna…

European initiative launched to develop COVID-19 treatment

The Corona Accelerated R&D in Europe (CARE) consortium today announced its launch to accelerate the development of COVID-19 treatments.

Supported by the Innovative Medicines Initiative, the new consortium has collected $92.7 million (€77.7 million) in grant funding in an effort to conduct a five-year project, bringing together 37 partners from Belgium, China, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the U.S.

Leading the initiative is VRI-Inserm, Johnson & Johnson‘s (NYSE:JNJ) Janssen Pharmaceutical and Takeda Pharmaceutical (TSE:4502;NYSE:TAK) as the companies integrate partners’ COVID-19 projects that have been ongoing since February.

CARE aims to combine the researchers to accelerate the discovery and development of solutions for the current COVID-19 pandemic, as well as future coronavirus outbreaks, with the most promising drug candidates set to advance to clinical trials in humans after testing…

J&J’s Ethicon touts surgical stapler study

The Echelon powered stapler with gripping surface technology (GST) [Image courtesy of Ethicon]

Ethicon — part of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) — is highlighting new study results in which its Echelon powered stapler with gripping surface technology (GST) had a lower rate of bleeding-related complications than a competing Medtronic product.

Ethicon funded the peer-reviewed study, which appears online in Medical Devices: Evidence and Research. The study compared the Echelon stapler with Medtronic’s Signia stapling system with Tri-Staple among patients undergoing laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy for obesity.

Get the full story on our sister site Medical Design & Outsourcing.

J&J starts clinical trial on vaccine candidate after strong non-human results

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) announced that its lead SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidate protected against infection of the virus causing COVID-19 in pre-clinical studies.

New Brunswick, N.J.-based J&J published data in Nature that showed the company’s investigational adenovirus serotype 26 (Ad26), vector-based vaccine elicited a robust immune response with “neutralizing antibodies” to prevent subsequent infection and provide complete or near-complete protection in the lungs from the virus in non-human primates.

Researchers immunized the non-human primates with a panel of vaccine prototypes before challenging them with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Of seven vaccine prototypes tested, Ad26.COV2.S elicited the highest level of neutralizing antibodies, which correlated with the level of protection, confirming early suggestions that they could be a potential biomarker for vaccine-mediated protection.

The six non-human primates that received a sing…

The most innovative pharmaceutical agents of 2020

The Galien Foundation recently announced nominees for most innovative pharmaceutical agents for its 14th Annual Prix Galien USA Awards.

The foundation bestows the Prix Galien Award annually to examples of outstanding biomedical, pharmaceutical drugs and medical technology products that are designed to improve the human condition.

“As we celebrate 50 years of the Prix Galien process, we are honored to announce this year’s Prix Galien USA nominees, which represent the determination and passion for change that serves as the driving force of life-changing innovation,” said Sue Desmond-Hellmann, chair of the Prix Galien USA and Prix Galien International Committees, in a news release.

This year, the foundation nominated 26 pharmaceutical agents that have been FDA-approved for the market within the last five years, and show major potential to affect healthcare. The winners will be announced in October this year.

“While scientific discovery and medical in…

The 26 most innovative pharmaceutical agents of 2020

The Galien Foundation recently announced nominees for most innovative pharmaceutical agents for its 14th Annual Prix Galien USA Awards.

The foundation bestows the Prix Galien Award annually to examples of outstanding biomedical, pharmaceutical drugs and medical technology products that are designed to improve the human condition.

“As we celebrate 50 years of the Prix Galien process, we are honored to announce this year’s Prix Galien USA nominees, which represent the determination and passion for change that serves as the driving force of life-changing innovation,” said Sue Desmond-Hellmann, chair of the Prix Galien USA and Prix Galien International Committees, in a news release.

This year, the foundation nominated 26 pharmaceutical agents that have been FDA-approved for the market within the last five years, and show major potential to affect healthcare. The winners will be announced in October this year.

“While scientific discovery and medical in…

Johnson & Johnson to take its time on general surgery robot

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) has decided not to follow a 510(k) clearance pathway for its planned general surgery robot — with a goal to start first-in-human studies with the system by the second half of 2022.

That was one of the major pieces of information to come out of the New Brunswick, N.J.–based company’s quarterly earnings call yesterday.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic struck, the U.S., J&J had been planning some kind of robotic surgery reveal in May. The medtech giant has been working on combining technologies that came out of its previous Verb Surgical collaboration with the Alphabet (NSDQ:GOOGL) life sciences unit Verily — as well as its $3.4 billion purchase of Auris Health and its FDA-cleared Monarch platform.

Robot-assisted surgery is presently a hot area in medtech — with J&J, Medtronic and others seeking to take on Intuitive Surgical (NSDQ:ISRG), the dominant company in the space.

“We continue to be impressed …

Johnson & Johnson Q2 results beat The Street amid pharma sales uptick

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) posted second-quarter results today that beat the consensus forecast on Wall Street — boosting its outlook for the year even as its medical device sales took a big hit from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The New Brunswick, N.J.–based medical device and pharmaceutical giant reported profits of $3.6 billion, or $1.36 per share, on sales of $18.3 billion for the three months ended June 30, 2020, for a bottom-line decline of –34.6% and a sales decline of –10.8% compared with Q4 2017.

Adjusted to exclude one-time items, earnings per share were $1.67, 19¢ ahead of The Street, where analysts were looking EPS of $1.48 on sales of $17.5 billion.

Most of J&J’s Q2 sales hit came from its medical device business, which saw a year-over-year sales decline of –33.9% as the COVID-19 pandemic caused a deferral in medical procedures. Consumer health was down –7.0%, while pharmaceuticals were up 2.1%.

During today’s earnings …