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Moody's: J&J Vaccine Pause Doesn't 'Materially Change' Company's Financial Profile

Analysis  |  By Jack O'Brien  
   April 13, 2021

The FDA and CDC called for a pause in the use of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine Tuesday morning. 

The temporary pause in the use of the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) coronavirus vaccine "does not materially change" the company's financial profile, according to a Moody's Investors Service executive.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended a pause in the use of the J&J coronavirus vaccine Tuesday morning, citing six rare but severe blood clot cases in U.S. patients who received the vaccine. 

As of Tuesday morning, nearly 7 million doses of the one-shot J&J vaccine have been distributed in the U.S., according to the CDC.

Michael Levesque, a senior vice president at Moody's, released a statement about the financial impact of the vaccine pause on the company's profile.

"A pause in the U.S. on the use of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine does not materially change the company’s strong financial profile. This is due to the profit-free nature of J&J’s vaccine during the pandemic phase, as well as significant global scale and diversity outside of vaccines," Levesque said in a statement. "Nevertheless, the development and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines has both social opportunities and social risks related to reputational considerations."

J&J issued a statement Tuesday morning, indicating that the company is aware of the "extremely rare disorder involving people with blood clots in combination with low platelets in a small number of individuals who have received our COVID-19 vaccine."

"In addition, we have been reviewing these cases with European health authorities. We have made the decision to proactively delay the rollout of our vaccine in Europe," the statement read. "We have been working closely with medical experts and health authorities, and we strongly support the open communication of this information to healthcare professionals and the public."

Jack O'Brien is the Content Team Lead and Finance Editor at HealthLeaders, an HCPro brand.

Photo credit: Brazil, São Paulo, October 12 2020: Silhouette of scientist hand holding injection with covid-19 vaccine Johnson & Johnson x close-up of the logo Johnson & Johnson / Editorial credit: adrianosiker.com / Shutterstock.com

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