Oxford and AstraZeneca vaccine trials suspended in Brazil



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RIO – The Federal University of São Paulo (Unifesp) reported on Tuesday night that the candidate’s tests for the Covid-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca, in association with the University of Oxford, were also suspended in Brazil. The drugmaker said it will stop studying its Covid-19 vaccine after one of the trial volunteers suffered an adverse reaction episode in the UK.

Specialists: Stopping the test does not cause panic, but it should delay the Oxford vaccination schedule

In Brazil, the research is coordinated by the Special Immunobiological Reference Center (Crie / Unifesp) and has 5,000 volunteers. According to Unifesp, many of them have already taken the second dose and so far no serious adverse reactions have been recorded.

“The pause, announced following the suspicion of an unexpected adverse event with a UK volunteer, follows the safety standards advocated in the Oxford vaccine study protocol. It is common practice in clinical trials involving drugs. The committee The study safety monitoring looks at whether the case is related to the vaccine or not and as soon as the analysis is complete, phase 3 should be resumed, “the university said in a note.

Remember: ‘I live in the midst of chaos, I was not afraid,’ says the first Brazilian to receive the Oxford coronavirus vaccine

Previously, Eduardo Pazuello, Acting Minister of Health, had said that the Brazilian government’s intention is to start vaccination in January 2021. In June, the Ministry of Health announced an agreement with Oxford for the initial production of 30.4 million. doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, with an investment of US $ 127 million. The first batch was announced for December and the second in January by Bio-Manguinhos, a laboratory of Fiocruz (Fundação Oswaldo Cruz).

Information about the vaccine trial discontinuation was reported by the medical content website STAT, linked to the Boston Globe, based on anonymous sources of information. Later, the company confirmed that it will make the break in a note sent to various English-language media outlets, such as the NBC television network and the Financial Times newspaper.

Other vaccines being tested in the country

Brazil is testing other candidate vaccines. The Chinese laboratory Sinovac is carrying out studies on its immunizer, also in phase 3, in alliance with the Butantan Institute, linked to the São Paulo government. This week, the Chinese laboratory released information that preliminary studies have shown to be safe in volunteers older than 60 years, although the immune response in these patients was lower than in younger adults.

Other immunization attempts are: that of Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Johnson & Johnson, and that of the alliance between Pfizer and BionTech, both already authorized to carry out tests in the country.

The government of Paraná, for its part, awaits authorization to begin testing the Russian Sputnik V vaccine with up to 10,000 volunteers. According to the Russian government, the initial results of its immunizer have been successful, although the scientific community is reluctant.

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