WEBVTT - Johnson & Johnson's CEO on the Newest Vaccine 0:00:04.480 --> 0:00:08.960 Welcome to Prognosis. I'm Laura Carlson. It's day three hundred 0:00:09.000 --> 0:00:13.000 and fifty two since coronavirus was declared a global pandemic. 0:00:13.560 --> 0:00:18.599 Today's main story Johnson and Johnson's one shot vaccine has 0:00:18.640 --> 0:00:23.360 been approved by regulators. We asked the CEO how he 0:00:23.520 --> 0:00:28.560 plans to increase supply to get one million people vaccinated 0:00:29.040 --> 0:00:40.559 by summer. But first, here's what happened in virus News today. 0:00:45.960 --> 0:00:50.599 The Biden administration has already begun shipping almost four million 0:00:50.680 --> 0:00:56.040 doses of Johnson and Johnson's COVID nineteen vaccine on Sunday. 0:00:56.320 --> 0:01:00.160 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention formally recommend at 0:01:00.160 --> 0:01:04.240 the shot for adults. Now that all regulatory hurdles have 0:01:04.400 --> 0:01:09.080 been cleared, providers can finally start administering doses of the 0:01:09.160 --> 0:01:13.760 first one shot vaccine. The first deliveries of the vaccine 0:01:13.880 --> 0:01:17.800 will arrive as early as Tuesday. That's according to senior 0:01:17.840 --> 0:01:23.040 administration officials who held a briefing call on condition of anonymity. 0:01:23.240 --> 0:01:26.200 The officials said the shots will be shipped through every 0:01:26.240 --> 0:01:30.520 distribution channel, including to states on a per capita basis, 0:01:30.880 --> 0:01:35.000 as well as directly to pharmacies. And community health centers. 0:01:36.200 --> 0:01:39.560 The UK is trying to trace a person infected with 0:01:39.600 --> 0:01:44.800 the Brazilian variant of the coronavirus. Six cases of the mutation, 0:01:45.120 --> 0:01:48.800 which originated in the Amazonian city of Manaus, have been 0:01:48.800 --> 0:01:53.640 detected in the UK, while five have been found. The 0:01:53.760 --> 0:01:57.920 identity of the final patient is still unknown because they 0:01:57.960 --> 0:02:01.840 fail to complete a test register ration card, leaving health 0:02:01.880 --> 0:02:06.640 officials without the information needed to find them. Over twenty 0:02:06.640 --> 0:02:10.359 million people in the UK have now been vaccinated, according 0:02:10.400 --> 0:02:17.000 to Britain's Health Minister Matt Hancock. Finally, Russians are skeptical 0:02:17.200 --> 0:02:22.160 of the locally developed spot NICK five vaccine. Some of 0:02:22.240 --> 0:02:25.960 Russians said they wouldn't take the injections the most since 0:02:25.960 --> 0:02:30.280 the question was introduced in August. That's according to a 0:02:30.320 --> 0:02:36.160 February poll by the independent Lovada Center. The responses highlight 0:02:36.240 --> 0:02:40.560 problems with the inoculations rollout despite evidence that it is 0:02:40.600 --> 0:02:53.560 safe and effective. And now for today's main story. Now 0:02:53.600 --> 0:02:57.440 that Johnson and Johnson's COVID nineteen vaccine has been cleared 0:02:57.440 --> 0:03:01.680 by regulators, the company needs to ramp up doses fast. 0:03:02.600 --> 0:03:06.600 J and J is looking for manufacturing partnerships to increase supply. 0:03:07.360 --> 0:03:10.800 The company wants to speed up its timeline to immunize 0:03:10.919 --> 0:03:14.600 twenty million Americans by the end of the month and 0:03:14.800 --> 0:03:19.440 one million by the end of June. Riley Griffin interviewed 0:03:19.440 --> 0:03:24.000 the company's chief executive officer, Alex Gorsky. I spoke to 0:03:24.040 --> 0:03:35.800 her about what else she learned from their interview. So 0:03:36.320 --> 0:03:40.080 you recently spoke to the CEO for Johnson and Johnson, 0:03:40.160 --> 0:03:44.600 Alex Gorski, about the recent authorization of their single shot 0:03:44.600 --> 0:03:48.480 COVID nineteen vaccine in the US. So tell me what 0:03:48.680 --> 0:03:53.040 does he see as the role for a one dose vaccine, 0:03:53.320 --> 0:03:56.960 either in terms of the US vaccine campaign or or 0:03:57.040 --> 0:04:00.280 more globally. Alex Scorski said, a one shot back scene 0:04:00.320 --> 0:04:03.160 is going to be a critical tool in reaching populations 0:04:03.200 --> 0:04:07.120 that interface less frequently with the health care system, like 0:04:07.360 --> 0:04:11.000 US top infectious disease specialist Anthony Fauci. He discussed it 0:04:11.160 --> 0:04:14.839 particularly as a boon to rural communities in the US. 0:04:15.000 --> 0:04:18.760 The impact that a single dose vaccine I think can 0:04:18.880 --> 0:04:23.400 have on access and distribution around the world just can't 0:04:23.440 --> 0:04:28.279 be overstated. We have now three vaccines that have been approved, 0:04:28.320 --> 0:04:31.320 we have dozens more that are in development. All these 0:04:31.440 --> 0:04:36.040 vaccines have been shown to be incredibly safe, incredibly effective. 0:04:36.480 --> 0:04:40.880 Now that we have that kind of a profile, with 0:04:41.040 --> 0:04:46.520 a single dose that requires standard refrigeration um as you 0:04:46.520 --> 0:04:50.560 would expect with very commonly used vaccines, and not for 0:04:50.640 --> 0:04:56.279 profit price, we think that that will significantly reduce some 0:04:56.360 --> 0:04:59.480 of the administrative some of the logistical challenges you know, 0:04:59.520 --> 0:05:05.480 associate add with the actual vaccine administration. Administering a single 0:05:05.560 --> 0:05:08.359 dose is going to be fairly cost effective for health 0:05:08.400 --> 0:05:11.760 systems to a one and done vaccine. Doesn't require the 0:05:11.839 --> 0:05:15.160 time and the resources needed to orchestrate and schedule out 0:05:15.520 --> 0:05:20.240 a second dose. Administration and administering shots cost money, so 0:05:20.279 --> 0:05:23.120 this will certainly lessen the burden on health systems around 0:05:23.160 --> 0:05:27.760 the country. Finally, the Johnson and Johnson CEO mentioned that 0:05:27.920 --> 0:05:30.640 price point here is a critical factor and will be 0:05:30.720 --> 0:05:34.320 important at global scale. Jange is offering the shot on 0:05:34.360 --> 0:05:37.479 a not for profit basis, which means less than ten 0:05:37.520 --> 0:05:41.240 dollars per regiment. Now compare that Defiser and bion Tech, 0:05:41.839 --> 0:05:44.640 which are asking in the US thirty nine per regiment, 0:05:45.040 --> 0:05:48.720 or Maderna at thirty three per regiment. That's going to 0:05:48.880 --> 0:05:53.200 create a more affordable option globally, and with the logistical 0:05:53.279 --> 0:05:55.760 convenience to boot. You can see it as the vaccine 0:05:55.760 --> 0:05:59.800 of choice for many and low in middle income countries. So, 0:06:00.400 --> 0:06:04.840 given that jane J has now received emergency use authorization 0:06:04.880 --> 0:06:08.560 for its vaccine in the US, what does the pace 0:06:08.640 --> 0:06:13.640 of production look like for j and J moving forward. Yeah, 0:06:13.640 --> 0:06:15.920 so jane J is going to deliver three point nine 0:06:15.920 --> 0:06:18.880 million doses of its one shot vaccine within the next 0:06:19.080 --> 0:06:22.520 twenty four to forty eight hours, Gorsky said, And the 0:06:22.520 --> 0:06:25.599 company wants to speed up its timeline actually of supplying 0:06:25.720 --> 0:06:29.000 enough vaccines to immunize twenty million Americans by the end 0:06:29.000 --> 0:06:31.560 of the month and a total of a hundred million 0:06:31.600 --> 0:06:34.560 Americans by the end of June. How are they going 0:06:34.600 --> 0:06:36.640 to do that, Well, they're going to focus on two 0:06:36.720 --> 0:06:41.640 different parts of the production process. First is its capacity 0:06:41.680 --> 0:06:44.960 for making a live cold virus called an adena virus 0:06:44.960 --> 0:06:47.719 that's used in the shot to trigger an immune response 0:06:47.760 --> 0:06:51.600 that fights off infection. They actually have to create proteins 0:06:51.680 --> 0:06:53.960 and that takes some time to grow, so they want 0:06:54.000 --> 0:06:57.120 to build out capacity there. Another space they want to 0:06:57.120 --> 0:07:01.040 augment is the company's phil finished process US. That's the 0:07:01.040 --> 0:07:04.520 facilities where the drug substance at the very final part 0:07:04.520 --> 0:07:08.560 of the production process are actually placed inside files. Phil 0:07:08.600 --> 0:07:12.240 finished capacity is fairly limited in this country and beyond, 0:07:12.360 --> 0:07:14.760 and as a result, the company is looking to increase 0:07:14.840 --> 0:07:17.360 it in the future. I mean, I don't believe that 0:07:17.520 --> 0:07:20.640 there's ever been a time in history to see that 0:07:20.680 --> 0:07:25.679 many actual doses produced in that period of time. Based 0:07:25.720 --> 0:07:27.720 upon the work that we've already done, as you noted, 0:07:28.000 --> 0:07:30.240 we're getting at three point nine literally within the next 0:07:30.920 --> 0:07:33.800 forty eight hours. And what's really important in this riley 0:07:33.880 --> 0:07:39.200 is that those three point nine million doses are regiments also, 0:07:39.720 --> 0:07:42.240 and so that means three point nine million more people 0:07:42.520 --> 0:07:47.160 during the United States will be vaccinated. We're also simultaneously 0:07:47.240 --> 0:07:51.440 going through the regulatory approval process for our other manufacturing facilities. 0:07:51.600 --> 0:07:53.520 Over the course of March, you'll see a ramp up 0:07:53.520 --> 0:07:56.120 to twenty million doses and then it will continue to 0:07:56.160 --> 0:07:59.080 wrap up the way that we just talked about by 0:07:59.160 --> 0:08:02.200 June to a hundred billion doses. And and we are 0:08:02.240 --> 0:08:07.280 doing everything we can, partnering um with the United States 0:08:07.320 --> 0:08:11.400 government and other external manufacturers to see what we can 0:08:11.440 --> 0:08:14.880 do to accelerate an increase that number as well, so 0:08:14.960 --> 0:08:18.240 that uh in our goal consystem from the very beginning 0:08:18.280 --> 0:08:21.120 is to achieve almost a billion doses by the end. 0:08:22.240 --> 0:08:25.960 We actually also heard from a Biden administration official today 0:08:26.080 --> 0:08:29.000 suggesting that distribution and delivery are going to be a 0:08:29.040 --> 0:08:32.840 bit uneven across these early first weeks of March, but 0:08:33.520 --> 0:08:35.880 we'll see more supply in the back half of the month, 0:08:35.960 --> 0:08:38.480 and it ramp up even further as we make it 0:08:38.600 --> 0:08:41.960 past March. You know, at this point, Riley, there are 0:08:42.000 --> 0:08:45.800 several COVID nineteen vaccines authorized for use in the US, 0:08:46.000 --> 0:08:49.679 Johnson and Johnson's, of course, alongside now what's available from 0:08:49.679 --> 0:08:52.840 Finzer and Maderna. What do you think it's important for 0:08:52.880 --> 0:08:56.960 Americans to know as more people confront whether to get 0:08:56.960 --> 0:09:01.079 the vaccine and indeed which vaccine to it. A lot 0:09:01.120 --> 0:09:04.520 of our readers are listeners, and the generally the public 0:09:04.640 --> 0:09:08.160 are looking at the data and trying to compare results 0:09:08.160 --> 0:09:11.160 out of clinical trials, and I think it's important for 0:09:11.200 --> 0:09:15.480 them to know that you can't have a apples to 0:09:15.600 --> 0:09:20.000 apples comparison here. These clinical trials were conducted at different 0:09:20.080 --> 0:09:22.599 parts of the course of the pandemic, and J and 0:09:22.679 --> 0:09:27.720 J IS notably was really at peak infections around the world. 0:09:28.360 --> 0:09:31.800 It's actually the largest COVID nineteen vaccine trial to date, 0:09:31.920 --> 0:09:35.080 and they had plenty of sites here in the US, 0:09:35.160 --> 0:09:39.760 of course, but also in places like Brazil and in 0:09:40.480 --> 0:09:45.240 South Africa where more transmissible virus variants have really dominated. 0:09:45.880 --> 0:09:50.680 I think what we've been particularly pleased with is that 0:09:50.720 --> 0:09:54.960 when you consider that our trial was done really at 0:09:55.240 --> 0:09:58.000 likely the most one of the most challenging times of 0:09:58.040 --> 0:10:01.240 this pandemic, so are are faced a clinical trial started 0:10:01.240 --> 0:10:05.960 in September October that did not finish until it's still 0:10:05.960 --> 0:10:09.200 not finished, we're ongoing, but was measured through January, and 0:10:09.240 --> 0:10:12.040 if you look at the incidents rates around the world, 0:10:12.679 --> 0:10:15.400 they were at some of their highest levels. Number two, 0:10:15.840 --> 0:10:18.280 our our trial is conducted on a global basis, so 0:10:18.679 --> 0:10:22.880 approximately our patients were in Latin America, I believe around 0:10:22.920 --> 0:10:27.520 for we're in the United States, were in South Africa, 0:10:28.080 --> 0:10:32.840 and in South Africa. Over the patients that were infected 0:10:33.440 --> 0:10:37.920 had the South African the one one variant, and we 0:10:37.960 --> 0:10:41.120 saw a significant number with the P two variant in 0:10:41.160 --> 0:10:45.720 northern Brazil. And so at a time when the infection 0:10:45.800 --> 0:10:51.280 rates were at among the highest, when we were seeing 0:10:51.320 --> 0:10:55.000 these new strains at a very significant level, we were 0:10:55.120 --> 0:11:00.200 still able to demonstrate very strong overall efficacy rates, but 0:11:00.240 --> 0:11:04.640 particularly in the severe cases where we saw efficacy rates 0:11:05.080 --> 0:11:10.000 higher than and we saw a pent of the time 0:11:10.520 --> 0:11:13.280 we were effective in keeping patients out of the hospital 0:11:13.400 --> 0:11:16.000 and keep them from dying, which we think are two 0:11:16.000 --> 0:11:20.240 of the more and most important data points for patients, 0:11:20.240 --> 0:11:24.559 for consumers, for health care systems to understand. The most 0:11:24.640 --> 0:11:29.320 important point to note again is as a public health tool, 0:11:29.520 --> 0:11:32.920 Jane Jay's vaccine serves its purpose. It keeps people from 0:11:32.920 --> 0:11:37.040 getting very sick and was ad effective in keeping people 0:11:37.120 --> 0:11:41.040 out of the hospital and from dying. That is critical 0:11:41.240 --> 0:11:44.240 because that reduces the strain on the health system. I 0:11:44.280 --> 0:11:47.640 spoke actually with Michelle Williams and epidemiologists and the dean 0:11:47.840 --> 0:11:51.160 of the Harvard Hands School of Public Health, and she said, quote, 0:11:51.160 --> 0:11:53.640 this is not the time to be quibbling over decimal 0:11:53.679 --> 0:11:57.280 places where the levels of efficacy that we're seeing, and 0:11:57.320 --> 0:12:00.720 her message was really clear. Vaccines as a public health 0:12:00.760 --> 0:12:04.280 tool are meant to keep people from getting sick, becoming hospitalized, 0:12:04.320 --> 0:12:07.720 and overwhelming the healthcare system. And that's precisely what Jane 0:12:07.800 --> 0:12:16.320 Jay's vaccine does. That was Riley Griffin, and that's it 0:12:16.360 --> 0:12:18.800 for our show today for coverage of the outbreak from 0:12:18.800 --> 0:12:23.000 one and twenty bureaus around the world. Visit bloomberg dot com, 0:12:23.000 --> 0:12:27.000 slash Coronavirus, and if you like the show, please leave 0:12:27.080 --> 0:12:30.400 us a review and a rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. 0:12:30.960 --> 0:12:33.360 It's the best way to help more listeners find our 0:12:33.360 --> 0:12:37.800 global reporting. The Prognosis Daily edition is produced by Tophor 0:12:37.840 --> 0:12:42.760 foreheads Magnus Henrickson and me Laura Carlson. Today's main story 0:12:43.040 --> 0:12:46.800 was reported by Riley Griffin. Original music by Leo Sidrin. 0:12:47.200 --> 0:12:51.360 Our editors are Rick Shine and Francesca Levi. Francesco Levi 0:12:51.600 --> 0:12:54.960 is Bloomberg's head of podcasts. Thanks for listening.