FDA Schedules J & J’s COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate Advisory Panel for February 26

A Food and Drug Administration advisory committee is now scheduled to meet on February 26 for a full-day meeting to discuss Johnson & Johnson’s JNJ,
+ 0.93%
COVID-19 vaccine candidate. This is the next step in the regulatory process after J&J said on Thursday it submitted an application for its investigational vaccine to the FDA. Members of the Vaccines and Related Biologics Advisory Committee will discuss and then vote on whether the benefits of the single-dose vaccine outweigh the risks. The FDA then takes the committee’s recommendation into account when deciding whether or not to authorize the firing of J&J. The advisory committee also held meetings to discuss COVID-19 vaccines developed by BioNTech SE BNTX,
-0.39%
/ Pfizer Inc. PFE,
+ 0.14%
and Moderna Inc. MRNA,
+ 4.49%.
Both vaccines were recommended by the committee and emergency clearances were granted by the FDA within days of those meetings. J & J’s stock has gained 5.2% over the past 12 months, while the larger S&P 500 SPX,
+ 1.09%
is up 17.4%.