AstraZeneca suspends Covid-19 vaccine trial after unexplained illness
AstraZeneca is one of nine companies currently in late-stage Phase 3 trials for their vaccine candidates.
What you need to know:
- Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca said it had "voluntarily paused" a randomised clinical trial of its coronavirus vaccine after a volunteer developed an unexplained illness.
- The company, which is developing the drug alongside the University of Oxford, is a frontrunner in the global race for a Covid-19 vaccine.
A clinical trial of one of the most promising Covid-19 vaccine candidates has been suspended after a patient developed an unexplained illness.
The vaccine being developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford was suspended as researchers review what led to the illness.
The Oxford team did not give details on the nature of the illness of the volunteer.
The drug was in trial involving thousands of people in the United States, Brazil, South Africa, and the UK where the patient fell ill.
The patient is likely to recover, health news website Stat News, which first reported the suspension, said citing the researchers.
"As part of the ongoing randomised, controlled global trials of the Oxford coronavirus vaccine, our standard review process was triggered and we voluntarily paused vaccination to allow the review of safety data by an independent committee," said Michele Meixell, the company's spokeswoman.
Trial volunteers had been told that some may get a sore arm, headaches, or fevers in the first couple of days after vaccination.
They were also told that there is a theoretical risk that the virus could induce a serious reaction to coronavirus, which arose in some early Sars animal vaccine studies.
Since the announcement on the suspension, nine CEOs of various multinational pharmaceutical companies signed a historic pledge to continue to make safety and well-being of vaccinated individuals the top priority in the development of the first Covid-19 vaccine.
In a press release published on the AstraZeneca website, the CEOs pledged their commitment to upholding the integrity of the scientific process as they work towards potential global regulatory filings and approvals of the first Covid-19 vaccine.
“We, the undersigned biopharmaceutical companies, want to make clear our on-going commitment to developing and testing potential vaccines for Covid-19 in accordance with high ethical standards and sound scientific principles.
The safety and efficacy of vaccines, including any potential vaccine for Covid-19, is reviewed and determined by expert regulatory agencies around the world, such as the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA),” the statement reads in part.
It remains unclear how long the suspension will last.
