Investing.com – Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) stock traded 1% higher in Wednesday’s premarket as the company claimed that its booster dose for Covid-19 led to a strong immunity response in the body.
J&J said data from two early-stage trials showed antibody levels increased ninefold among people who received a second dose of its vaccine.
The company said a booster is needed after eight months based on interim data it reported in the New England Journal of Medicine in July.
Data from the studies are being submitted to the preprint server MedRxiv in advance of peer review.
J&J’s viral vector vaccine is the only single-dose shot against Covid in the world. The US Food and Drug Administration has already approved booster doses for immunocompromised people in the case of mRNA vaccines, to be given 8 months after the second dose. That exercise should roll out from September.
The need for a booster dose has arisen amid studies that said the efficacy of the vaccines declines over time. The rapid spread of the delta variant that has led to a surge in Covid cases in the U.S. and elsewhere influenced the decision in favor of a booster dose.