Johnson & Johnson’s Single-Dose COVID-19 Vaccine Granted Emergency Use Listing By WHO

Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose COVID-19 vaccine, which was developed by the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson (Janssen), has been issued an Emergency Use Listing (EUL) by the World Health Organization (WHO). The world’s largest healthcare company designed the vaccine to prevent COVID-19 in individuals 18 years of age and older.

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The data released from the Phase 3 ENSEMBLE study reflected that Johnson & Johnson’s (JNJ) single-shot COVID-19 vaccine has a favorable tolerability profile. Additionally, the study confirmed that the reduction in symptomatic COVID-19 disease in individuals who received the vaccine in comparison to individuals given the placebo was 67%.

Furthermore, the data confirmed 85% efficacy of the vaccine in preventing severe disease across all regions studied and demonstrated that the vaccine protects against hospitalization and death due to COVID-19 across countries with different variants, commencing 28 days after vaccination.

Last December, Johnson & Johnson and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, agreed in principle, in support of the COVAX Facility. Both are likely to enter into an advance purchase agreement (APA) that would supply 500 million doses of the company’s vaccine to COVAX through 2022. (See Johnson & Johnson stock analysis on TipRanks)

Johnson & Johnson Executive Committee VC Paul Stoffels said, “The WHO listing of our single-shot COVID-19 vaccine advances our pledge to help stem this pandemic and our unwavering commitment to equitable access.”

“Achieving this important prerequisite for distributing our vaccine through the COVAX Facility which is co-led by Gavi is a major step forward in making our vaccine accessible for all,” Stoffels added.

In recent months, the company has also received Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for the vaccine in the US by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Interim Order authorization in Canada, along with Conditional Marketing Authorization (CMA) in the European Union.

On Jan. 27, J.P. Morgan analyst Chris Schott raised the stock’s price target to $175 (9.7% upside potential) from $157 and reiterated a Hold rating “following the company’s Q4 results.”

The consensus rating among analysts is a Strong Buy based on 10 Buys versus 1 Hold. The average analyst price target stands at $189.90 and implies upside potential of 19% to current levels. Shares have gained 25.5% over the past year.

On top of this, Johnson & Johnson scores a “Perfect 10” from TipRanks’ Smart Score rating system, indicating that the stock has strong potential to outperform market expectations.