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Behind Covid-19 vaccine development

A machine learning model developed jointly by Janssen and MIT data scientists played a key role in the clinical trial process for the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine

When starting a vaccine program, scientists generally have anecdotal understanding of the disease they’re aiming to target. When Covid-19 surfaced over a year ago, there were so many unknowns about the fast-moving virus that scientists had to act quickly and rely on new methods and techniques just to even begin understanding the basics of the disease. Scientists at Janssen Research & Development, developers of the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine, leveraged real-world data and, working with MIT researchers, applied artificial intelligence and machine learning to help guide the company’s research efforts into a potential vaccine.