J&J single shot sees 66% efficacy in moderate COVID-19, 85% in severe cases; shares fall

J&J single shot sees 66% efficacy in moderate COVID-19, 85% in severe cases; shares fall

Source: 
Fierce Biotech
snippet: 

Johnson & Johnson saw its shares fall 4% in early trading on the news that its one-shot COVID-19 vaccine saw 66% efficacy in moderate to severe disease, rising to 85% in severe disease.

That 66% headline hit J&J’s shares hard, but the data (published via a press release, so caveats abound until peer reviewed in a journal) are better than they appear at first glance.

Breaking it down, the phase 3 trial of J&J’s one-and-done COVID-19 vaccine showed it was 72% effective in the U.S. in preventing severe to moderate COVID-19, but this fell to the 66% headline figure as its overall effectiveness was worse outside the U.S.: 66% in Latin America and 57% in South Africa, all coming 28 days post-vaccination.