Johnson & Johnson will begin human trials for its experimental COVID-19 vaccine July 22, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The initial trial, which will involve 1,000 participants, will begin in Belgium, followed shortly by testing in the U.S. Researchers will evaluate the vaccine candidate's safety and ability to produce an immune response.
J&J is also in talks with the National Institutes of Health to roll out an expansive phase 3 trial that could start in late September, in which researchers would analyze the vaccine candidate's ability to protect against COVID-19. The drugmaker told The Wall Street Journal it could have an answer about the vaccine's efficacy by the end of the year.
If trials are successful, J&J could make the vaccine available early next year. It plans to manufacture up to 1 billion doses of the shot by the end of 2021.