Johnson & Johnson announces potential coronavirus vaccine, Abbott launches rapid test kit

Amid the rising coronavirus cases in the world, US company Johnson & Johnson on Monday (March 30) announced a potential vaccine that is expected to hit the market in 2020 and another US firm Abbott Laboratories has announced about its plan to launch a rapid test.

According to Johnson & Johnson, the scientists working at the company had succeeded in discovering a potential vaccine candidate and the firm was teaming up with the US government to invest $1 billion (€900 million) in its development. The company said that it is planning to start testing of the vaccine in humans by September. The announcement boosted the shares of J&J, which is the world’s largest healthcare company.

On the other hand, Abbott is launching a test that can take as little as five minutes and can be run on a portable machine the size of a toaster. Shares in Abbott jumped 8.7 per cent to $81.07.

J&J also announced on Monday that the vaccine would be sold on a “not-for-profit” basis during the pandemic, reported Irish Times.

The chairman and chief executive of Johnson & Johnson, Alex Gorsky, said the company feels a “deep responsibility” to help the people across the world remain in good health using scientific expertise.

“The world is facing an urgent public health crisis and we are committed to doing our part to make a Covid-19 vaccine available and affordable globally as quickly as possible,” he was quoted as saying by Irish Times.

Meanwhile, Abbott has claimed that its new diagnostic test for coronavirus COVID-19 would help in the fight against coronavirus by reducing the wait for results to just five minutes for a positive result and 13 minutes for a negative one.

The test runs on the portable platform of Abbott. The company has said that it will soon start distributing the new testing kit to healthcare providers.

Robert B. Ford, president of Abbott, said the device would help clinicians test “outside of the traditional walls of a hospital in outbreak hotspots”.