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There will be enough Covid vaccines for the ‘entire U.S. adult population by June,’ doctor says

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Johnson & Johnson board member Dr. Mark McClellan told CNBC Friday that there could be enough vaccinations for the entire U.S. adult population by the summer. 

“Assuming all of the close review of the J&J data all pans out, we’re going to have the capacity between Moderna, Pfizer, J&J, to have enough vaccines available by June for the entire U.S. adult population,” McClellan, a former FDA commissioner, said on “The News with Shepard Smith.” 

The U.S. plans to buy 200 million Covid vaccine doses from Moderna and Pfizer. The Department of Health and Human Services will boost its vaccine supply to states from 8.6 million to a minimum of 10 million doses per week. So far, states have received more than 49 million doses, but only about half of those have actually ended up in people’s arms, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency reports that the U.S. is administering a little more than a million shots every day.

McClellan that the U.S. should significantly increase the amount of shots administered per day and “get our capacity for doing vaccinations up closer to 3 million doses per day.”

The United States has ordered 100 million doses of the J&J vaccine, which the company plans to deliver by June. J&J plans to file for emergency use authorization next week. If J&J’s vaccine is authorized by the FDA, it would be the third vaccine approved for emergency use in the U.S. Pfizer’s vaccine was authorized by the FDA on Dec. 11, and Moderna’s was authorized a week later.

The J&J vaccine efficacy numbers were lower than those for Pfizer and Moderna. Pfizer’s vaccine was found to be 95% effective against preventing Covid-19, while Moderna’s was found to be about 94% effective. J&J’s vaccine was found to be 66% effective overall in preventing moderate to severe Covid.

Host Shepard Smith asked McClellan about the lower efficacy numbers compared to Pfizer and Moderna, and he explained to Smith that “we’re fighting a different virus today than we were three months ago when previous trials were done.”

Additionally, J&J ran its trial across three continents and the level of protection varied by region. Its vaccine demonstrated overall, 72% effectiveness in the United States and 66% in Latin America. In South Africa, where the dangerous B.1.351 strain of Covid caused a surge in cases, the J&J  vaccine demonstrated 57% effectiveness.

“Unfortunately, we’re probably going to be fighting a different virus three months from now, so most important in winning this battle, is getting as many people vaccinated as possible,” said McClellan. “The faster we get shots in arms, the more people we get vaccinated here in this country and around the world, the better we’re going to do in containing that further spread and the further damage from Covid.”

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Business

Novavax says drug is more than 89% effective

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Biotech firm Novavax said Thursday that its coronavirus vaccine was more than 89% effective in protecting against Covid-19 in its phase three clinical trial conducted in the United Kingdom.

The results were based on 62 confirmed Covid-19 infections among the trial’s 15,000 participants. The company said 56 cases were observed in the placebo group versus six cases observed in the group that received its vaccine. That resulted in an estimated vaccine efficacy of 89.3%, it said.

Shares of the company were up more than 23% in after-hours trading.

With the results, the company “has the potential to play an important role in solving this global public health crisis,” Novavax CEO Stanley Erck said in a statement. “We look forward to continuing to work with our partners, collaborators, investigators and regulators around the world to make the vaccine available as quickly as possible.”

The study also found that the vaccine appeared to be 85.6% effective against the U.K. variant, also known as B.1.1.7. A separate phase two study in South Africa showed that the vaccine isn’t nearly as effective against a new strain ravaging that country.

The shot was still considered effective in protecting against the virus, but at an efficacy rate of just 49.4% among 44 Covid-19 cases in South Africa, where 90% of the cases contain the troubling new variant, the company said.

As a result of the lower effectiveness against the strain in South Africa, Novavax said it plans to pick a modified version of the vaccine to better guard against the new strain “in the coming days.” It plans to test the modified vaccine in the second quarter of this year.

Novavax is among several companies developing a vaccine to fight the virus, which has infected more than 101 million people worldwide and killed at least 2.2 million as of Thursday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Only two vaccines — from Pfizer and Moderna — have been authorized for use in the U.S. so far.

In July, the U.S. government, as part of the Trump administration’s Operation Warp Speed initiative, announced it would pay Novavax $1.6 billion to develop and manufacture the potential vaccine, with the aim of delivering 100 million doses by the beginning of 2021.

It’s unclear if the data Thursday will be enough for Novavax to be given an emergency use authorization by the Food and Drug Administration that would allow the distribution in the U.S. The company began a late-stage trial with 30,000 people in the U.S. and Mexico in late December.

Novavax’s vaccine contains synthesized pieces of the surface protein the coronavirus uses to infect humans. The company said the vaccine was well tolerated, adding that “severe, serious, and medically attended adverse events occurred at low levels and were balanced between vaccine and placebo groups.”

In August, the company said phase one trial data found its vaccine generated a promising immune response. Participants received two doses of the potential vaccine via intramuscular injection approximately 21 days apart. Novavax also said the vaccine was well tolerated with no serious adverse events reported.

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Business

Microsoft, BlackBerry, GE, Leon Black – 5 Things You Must Know

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Here are five things you must know for Tuesday, Jan. 26:

1. — Stock Futures Move Higher on Solid Earnings

Stock futures moved mostly higher Tuesday following solid earnings reports from Johnson & Johnson  (JNJ) – Get Report, 3M  (MMM) – Get Report and General Electric  (GE) – Get Report.

Equities had wavered for most of the premarket session on the possibility that a U.S. coronavirus relief package could be delayed. 

Contracts linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 56 points, S&P 500 futures rose 2 points and Nasdaq futures were down 7 points ahead of earnings reports from some of the biggest tech companies.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Monday an aid package was unlikely before mid-March. That is when federal unemployment benefits authorized by last $900 billion package will expire.

President Joe Biden said he was open to negotiations on his proposed $1.9 trillion plan to send $1,400 to most Americans and deliver other support for the economy, including funds for vaccine distribution.

A bipartisan group of senators already have voiced opposition to the size of Biden’s plan.

The coronavirus pandemic, meanwhile, has killed more than 421,000 in the U.S. and concerns have been growing about the bumpy rollout of vaccines in the country. Biden said he anticipates vaccines will be available to anyone in the U.S. by spring, but to meet that projection vaccine makers will have to sharply increase production.

Stocks finished mixed on Monday amid questions about whether the Biden White House will be able to deliver another round of stimulus. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq, however, did manage to close at record highs.

2. — Tuesday’s Calendar: Microsoft and AMD Earnings, Federal Reserve Meeting

General Electric  (GE) – Get Report reported fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of 8 cents a share, 1 cent below analysts’ estimates. Total revenue of $21.93 billion topped forecasts.

Johnson & Johnson  (JNJ) – Get Report posted stronger-than-expected fourth- quarter earnings and said Tuesday it would provide an update on its vaccine development progress “soon.”

“We continue to progress our Covid-19 vaccine candidate and look forward to sharing details from our Phase 3 study soon. Johnson & Johnson was built for times like these, and I am extremely confident in our ability to deliver lasting value and continued innovation in 2021 and for years to come,” said CEO Alex Gorsky.

Earnings reports are also expected Tuesday from Microsoft  (MSFT) – Get Report, Advanced Micro Devices  (AMD) – Get Report, Starbucks  (SBUX) – Get Report, Verizon  (VZ) – Get Report, Lockheed Martin  (LMT) – Get Report, American Express  (AXP) – Get Report, 3M  (MMM) – Get Report, Xilinx  (XLNX) – Get Report, Raytheon Technologies  (RTX) – Get Report and Texas Instruments  (TXN) – Get Report.

Microsoft, Advanced Micro Devices and Starbucks are holdings in Jim Cramer’s Action Alerts PLUS member club. Want to be alerted before Jim Cramer buys or sells the stocks? Learn more now.

The U.S. economic calendar on Tuesday includes the first day of a two-day meeting of the Federal Reserve. The central bank isn’t expected to move on interest rates and has signaled it will keep them near zero through 2023.

Mark Heppenstall, chief investment officer at Penn Mutual Asset Management, said the central bank likely will reiterate its “commitment to prolonged monetary accommodation” at the meeting.

“Uncertainty surrounding the pandemic’s near-term course and signs of weakening labor markets suggest recent taper talk by Fed officials is still premature,” Heppenstall added, referring to when the Fed might  begin tapering asset purchases.

The calendar also includes the Case-Shiller Home Price Index for November at 9 a.m. ET and Consumer Confidence for January at 10 a.m.

3. — Leon Black Will Step Down as CEO of Private-Equity Giant Apollo

Leon Black, the founder and CEO of private-equity giant Apollo Global Management  (APO) – Get Report, will step down as chief executive after it was revealed he made larger-than-expected payments to Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier.

Black paid Epstein $158 million in fees for trust- and estate-tax planning in the five years to 2017, far more than was previously known, according to a report from law firm Dechert. 

The review by Dechert found no evidence that Black was involved in the criminal activities of the late Epstein, who was indicted in 2019 on federal sex-trafficking charges involving underage girls. Epstein committed suicide in prison while awaiting child sex charges.

Apollo also never retained Epstein for any services, the report concluded. 

Black wrote in a letter to Apollo’s fund investors that he would cede the role of CEO to co-founder Marc Rowan on or before his 70th birthday on July 31, while retaining the role of chairman. 

The Wall Street Journal was first to report on the contents of the report and letter.

Shares of Apollo Global rose 3.86% to $47.65 in after-hours trading on Monday.

4. — BlackBerry Shares Surge Again

BlackBerry  (BB) – Get Report was jumping more than 11% in premarket trading Tuesday, following the stock’s more than 28% gain in the previous session as it received a boost from retail traders and was being heavily mentioned on online message boards such as Reddit.

BlackBerry, the security software and services company, said in a statement that it was unaware of reasons for the stock move.

Shares of BlackBerry rose 11.87% to $20.17 in premarket trading Tuesday. The stock has gained 172% so far in 2021.

BlackBerry Rises Again, Gets Lift From Expanded Baidu Partnership

Analysts at RBC cut the stock to underperform from sector perform, citing valuation and saying there has been no change to the company’s fundamental outlook. Analyst Paul Treiber maintained his price target at $7.50.

BlackBerry has become a favorite on the Reddit message board, much like GameStop  (GME) – Get Report and Express  (EXPR) – Get Report.

What Is Happening to GameStop Stock? Jim Cramer Explains

5. — Apple Lead Hardware Engineer Shifting to ‘New Project’

Apple  (AAPL) – Get Report said its leading hardware engineer, Dan Riccio, was moving to a new project and will be replaced by John Ternus, currently a vice president of hardware engineering.

Riccio has been with Apple since 1998 and has worked on most of the company’s major products over that time, from the first iMac computers to the latest 5G phones.

Apple didn’t specify what project Riccio will lead. But recent speculation has focused on efforts by the company to develop a high-end virtual reality headset, or augmented reality glasses.

Apple is a holding in Jim Cramer’s Action Alerts PLUS member club. Want to be alerted before Jim Cramer buys or sells AAPL? Learn more now.



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