Gottlieb: Johnson & Johnson vaccine looks like promising ‘third entrant’

Former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said that the new single-dose coronavirus vaccine from Johnson & Johnson “looks like a good profile for a vaccine.”

“All in all this looks like a good profile for a vaccine,” Gottlieb said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Thursday after early data showed promising results for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. “It’s an indication we are probably going to have a third entrant here.”

“All in all this looks like a good profile for a vaccine,” says @ScottGottliebMD on early data from Johnson & Johnson single dose COVID-19 vaccine. “It’s an indication we are probably going to have a third entrant here.” pic.twitter.com/oFzLQ0PgHV

— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) January 14, 2021

Gottlieb sits on the board of Pfizer, which has produced one of the two vaccines that has already received emergency authorization from the FDA.

The results of early-stage trials for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine were published in The New England Journal of Medicine on Wednesday. It showed that all trial participants had neutralizing antibodies in their system after 57 days. 

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine would allow for more vaccines to be dispersed and would only require one shot, whereas the current COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna require two. 

The company says more results on their vaccine could come as soon as the end of January. The vaccine was found to have common side effects such as a headache and fatigue.

There were plans for the company to have 12 million doses by the end of February, but manufacturing issues could delay that to as late as April. 

Vaccines are currently being administered at slower rates than anticipated due to the strict guidelines of who is allowed to receive them. Officials are hoping as guidelines loosen up in the next few weeks that the number of people who get the vaccine will increase.