Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 Booster, Administered Six Months After Two-Dose Regimen of BNT162b2, Shows Substantial Increase in Antibody and T-cell Responses

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J., DECEMBER 5, 2021 – Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) (the Company) today announced preliminary results from an independent study, including a subset of participants from the Janssen-sponsored COV2008 study, conducted by Dan Barouch, M.D., Ph.D., et al. of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), which showed that a booster shot of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine (Ad26.COV2.S), administered at six months after a two-dose primary regimen of BNT162b2, increased both antibody and T-cell responses. These results demonstrate the potential benefits of heterologous boosting (mix-and-match). The article describing these results have been posted on medRxiv. “There is early evidence to suggest that a mix-and-match boosting approach may provide individuals with different immune responses against COVID-19 than a homologous boosting approach,” said Dan Barouch, M.D., Ph.D., Director of the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research at BIDMC. “In this preliminary study, when a booster dose of Ad26.COV2.S was given to individuals six months after a primary regimen with the BNT162b2 vaccine, there was a comparable increase of antibody responses at week four following the boost and a greater increase of CD8+ T-cell responses with Ad26.COV2.S compared with BNT162b2.” “These results provide valuable scientific insights for our vaccine when used as a mix-and-match booster and can help inform boosting strategies with the goal to curb the pandemic,” ...
Source: Johnson and Johnson - Category: Pharmaceuticals Tags: Innovation Source Type: news