EMA Starts Rolling Review of Janssen’s COVID-19 Vaccine

EMA’s human medicines committee (CHMP) has started a rolling review of Ad26.COV2.S, a COVID-19 vaccine from Janssen Vaccines & Prevention B.V.

The CHMP’s decision to start the rolling review is based on preliminary results from laboratory studies and early clinical studies in adults. These studies suggest that the vaccine triggers the production of antibodies and immune cells that target the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.

The company is currently conducting trials in people to assess safety and immunogenicity (how well the vaccine triggers a response against the virus), and effectiveness. EMA will evaluate data from these and other clinical trials as they become available.

The rolling review will continue until enough evidence is available for a formal marketing authorisation application.

Ad26.COV2.S contains genetic instructions for a protein known as spike (S) protein which is present on the surface of SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. When a person is given the vaccine, their cells will read the genetic instructions and produce the spike protein. The person’s immune system will then treat this protein as foreign and produce natural defences — antibodies and T cells — against it.

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