Johnson & Johnson profits soar 73% amid global COVID-19 healthcare crisis

As the COVID-19 pandemic is still prevalent worldwide, vaccine manufacturers Johnson & Johnson's, on Wednesday, forecast a 73 per cent of growth in their second-quarter profit, reported AP.  According to the reports, the health care giant has reported a jump of $2.65 billion ($3.63 billion to $6.28 billion) in the net income during the second quarter. The world's biggest maker of health care products excelled Wall Street presupposition and hiked its 2021 sales and profit forecasts sharply by two folds in terms of share value.

Johnson & Johnson's COVID vaccine sales miles away to compete its rivals

Its rival COVID-19 vaccines companies like Pfizer Inc and Moderna Inc which was approved months before Johnson & Johnson got the green signal, it has not been able to compete among the other vaccine makers as it has been troubled by concerns about some very rare side effects. According to the reports, Pfizer forecast $26 billion annual sales of its vaccines while Moderna forecast $19.2 billion in annual businesses of their vaccines. Earlier, its factory based in Maryland, U.S. had to close its operations following contamination problems that led the drug manufacturer to trash their millions of coronavirus vaccine shots. 

Only vaccine that requires a single dose

There seems to be a tough time for Johnson & Johnson's as it is still unpredictable that when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration would allow the factory to resume its operation which has been halted for nearly three months. It is worth noting that Johnson & Johnson's is the only COVID-19 vaccine that requires a single dose. It is expected that the J&J manufactured vaccine would play a key role in rural and developing countries where arranging two doses of the covid vaccine would be a tough deal for the government.

Earlier, the company has announced to provide affordable vaccines to poor and middle-income countries with the help World Health Organization (WHO). However, the announcement turned to be hazy as it has not yet fulfilled the orders that it had taken from the US government. Meanwhile, with the approval of expanding its manufacturing units in the Netherlands, it is expected that the company would soon fulfil its promises. In recent studies, Johnson & Johnson show the vaccine works well against newer covid variants and protects people for at least eight months. 

(With inputs from AP)

(Image Credit: PTI)