J&J shares rise on Covid-19 vaccine trial news as EU spat with AstraZeneca worsens

Johnson & Johnson chief executive Alex Gorsky said he expected to release its late-stage vaccine trial early next week

The Johnson & Johnson plant in Ringaskiddy, Co Cork: Any J&J vaccine, once approved, may be able to be distributed more easily than the vaccine developed and produced by BioNTech of Germany and Pfizer of the US. File picture; David Creedon / Anzenberger

Shares in Johnson & Johnson rose sharply as the US drug giant said it would soon have news of its Covid-19 vaccine candidate, while AstraZeneca, the British drugs firm involved in a spat with the EU over vaccine supplies, were little changed.

The potential for the new vaccine developments remains the focus of investors, including the companies that are seeking to secure early approval when they report their latest trial results to the US and European medicine watchdogs.      

One of the most promising of the next wave of developers is Johnson & Johnson, whose chief executive Alex Gorsky said he expected to release its late-stage vaccine trial early next week. 

J&J shares rose almost 4% to value the company at $437bn (€359.5bn). News of the J&J vaccine is eagerly awaited by investors, who hope it will be a game-changer. 

Any J&J vaccine, once approved, may be able to be distributed more easily than the vaccine developed and produced by BioNTech of Germany and Pfizer of the US. 

Investors are also betting that the J&J data next week may show that its candidate is also more effective than the approved vaccine developed and produced by Oxford University and Britain's AstraZeneca. 

Investors are also betting that the J&J data next week may show that its candidate is also more effective than the approved vaccine developed and produced by Oxford University and Britain's AstraZeneca

Shares in AstraZeneca were little changed as the row over a supply contract between the European Commission and the British company got worse. The slow roll-out of vaccines by the EU, including to Ireland, has the potential to develop into a political crisis because it may mean that more people will die and that the lockdowns required to keep the pandemic in check will last longer and the economic toll will mount.

Shares in CureVac, the young German company that teamed up with drugs giant Bayer earlier this month to develop its candidate vaccine, fell 2% in the latest session, amid plans to sell shares to help develop its vaccine. 

Nonetheless, CureVac, which is backed by the Gates Foundation, GSK, and the German government, is valued at €15bn.

Another US candidate, Novavax has completed or will be conducting trials in South Africa, the UK, and the US in the coming months. The stock market values the start-up at €7.7bn.        

The drug firms that have already developed vaccines have had mixed performances. Shares in Pfizer, which is producing the BioNTech-developed vaccine for Europe at a plant near Antwerp in Belgium, as well as a number of US plants, have gained only 3% from a year ago to value the US giant at €170.4bn. BioNTech, led by Professor Ugur Sahin, has been the big winner so far, with its shares soaring 180% to value the German firm at over €21.8bn.

Moderna, which said its vaccine is effective against new variants, continued to rise and has posted gains of over 600% from a year ago, valuing the US firm at about €48bn.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) issued recommendations on the use of the Moderna vaccine and said it was working with the company to accelerate its approval of the shot for WHO emergency use listing.

WHO director of immunisation Kate O’Brien said clinical trials of the Moderna vaccine were needed on pregnant women.