Johnson & Johnson Pauses Trial Of Experimental COVID Vaccine After Volunteer Develops Unexplained Illness
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) - New Jersey-based Johnson & Johnson says it has paused an advanced clinical trial of its experimental coronavirus vaccine after one of its volunteers came down with an unexplained illness.
The company did not give details on the illness.
Johnson & Johnson says the patient's condition is now being evaluated by an independent data monitoring board, along with its own physicians.
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The company also says adverse events are to be expected, especially in large clinical studies.
Final-stage testing of a vaccine made by AstraZeneca and Oxford University remains on hold in the U.S. as officials examine whether an illness in its trial poses a safety risk. That trial was stopped when a woman developed severe neurological symptoms consistent with transverse myelitis, a rare inflammation of the spinal cord, the company has said. That company's testing has restarted elsewhere.
Johnson & Johnson was aiming to enroll 60,000 volunteers to prove if its single-dose approach is safe and protects against the coronavirus. Other vaccine candidates in the U.S. require two shots.
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(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)