On Sept. 3, 2020, Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) announced that for the first time, early research in hamsters demonstrated that an investigational coronavirus vaccine candidate may help protect against severe COVID-19 disease.

The study, led by Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston with contributions from Oregon Health & Science University, published in the journal Nature Medicine. examined the investigational vaccine being developed by Johnson & Johnson affiliate Janssen Pharmaceuticals. In earlier preclinical research, the same investigational vaccine robustly protected nonhuman primates against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.