Brazil Launches J&J's Coronavirus Vaccine Study

Brazil's regulator Anvisa announced the approval to conduct a phase 3 clinical trial of the vaccine candidate called Ad26.COV2.S, composed of a recombinant, non-replicating vector of adenovirus type 26 (Ad26), built to encode the S protein of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. This authorization was requested by Jansen-Cilag, the pharmaceutical division of J&J.

The study foresees the inclusion of 7,000 Brazilians, distributed in the states of São Paulo, Rio Grande do Sul, Rio de Janeiro, Paraná, Minas Gerais, Bahia and Rio Grande do Norte during 2020.

Brazil has already approved phase 3 studies for vaccine candidates from AstraZeneca, China’s Sinovac Biotech, and Pfizer - BioNTech.