Health regulators authorize fourth vaccine study in Brazil

The Brazilian Sanitary Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) has given Johnson & Johnson the go-ahead to proceed with phase three trials of a potential Covid-19 vaccine in Brazil. The study for the so-called Ad26.COV2.S vaccine will require around 60,000 volunteers between the ages of 18 and 60 — roughly 7,000 will be from Brazil. 

According to regulators, the tests include a single dose of the vaccine or a placebo and the centers responsible for the research will also be in charge of recruiting volunteers. Anvisa stated that the approval of the latest phase of trials in Brazil relied on the progress of the vaccine’s phase one and two tests in the U.S. and Belgium. 

The data that supported the authorization also included non-clinical studies and accumulated non-clinical and clinical data from other prospective vaccines that use the same Ad26 platform.

The race for a vaccine

With its uncontrolled coronavirus spread and a population eager for a vaccine, Brazil has become a key player in the race for immunization against Covid-19. Besides Johnson & Johnson, British-Swedish firm AstraZeneca (in partnership with the University of Oxford), U.S. giant Pfizer, and Chinese biotech company Sinovac are also holding trials in the country.

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