Comment by hetspookjee | Hacker News Reader

Comment by hetspookjee | Hacker News Reader

It's funny to read it as J&J vaccine, while here in the Netherlands where the institute we all call it Janssen because that is the name of the institute. Im also in favor if the title reflected Janssen as well but I guess it's what it is as the article and the rest of America also calls it J&J vaccine. It's just a bit weird that it now gets the American name while they're just the parent company and didn't were involved so much in the R&D.

It's based on the name most well-known/respected in the target population. Janssen is well known and has a better reputation in the Netherlands. J&J is better known and has a better reputation in America. It's quite literally marketing.

See also Pfizer vs. BioNTech

They're not just the parent company, J&J owns the vaccine. It's their property.

The world knows the Johnson & Johnson brand. It's one of the top brands on the planet and has been for decades. Most of the world doesn't know Janssen. It's logical to call it the J&J vaccine accordingly, for marketing purposes it makes a lot more sense.

If the Berkeley West Lab subsidiary of J&J produced the vaccine, nobody would call it the Berkeley West Lab vaccine.

Vaccine providers(at least some) are referring to it as J&J/Janssen, or even just Janssen sometimes, here in the USA.

Same deal with the Pfizer vaccine, really. My family in Germany lives near where BioNTech is located, and everyone is very proud to call it the BioNTech vaccine.

Entirely different in fact. Pfizer doesn't own BioNTech, they're business partners. J&J owns Janssen (for 60 years now), the vaccine belongs specifically to J&J.

I'm not in Germany, but I also get very frustrated when the Pfizer name is applied to what BioNTech created. BioNTech is going to be doing amazing things later on too, with their great tech platform.

I have a feeling that news sources are very guarded about introducing new names to the public, especially ones as difficult to pronounce as BioNTech (I've heard some great butchering of the pronunciation too).

May be its just easier to pronounce Pfizer than BioNTech?

Not everything needs to be distilled down to nationalistic undertones.

I am getting sick of this kind of discussion permeating on HN - It is extremely juvenile and damaging to the spirit of HN. In this regard, Reddit seems to be a lot better. Go on any vaccine related thread and there is absolutely none of this. There is so much more global cooperation observed on Reddit than on HN.

This has nothing to do with nationalism. I'm not German. I don't care about whether Germany gets credit for this. I care about BioNTech getting credit.

My complaint, beyond just the media, is that large pharma, like Pfizer, being fundamentally uninnovative companies that grow by acquisition rather than invention. And about small companies being denied the potential to grow because of an oligopoly of control.

Name brand recognition drives dollars, and in biotech the ability to raise money is just as much a hurdle as the chances of your trial failing.

I see your point, and that's a valid concern. I wonder how much damage public PR does to investors - who are supposed to be highly informed and not be pursued by public hype.

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