Astra Zeneca has stopped testing the vaccine against COVID-19 – Medications

The pharmaceutical company Astra Zeneca announced yesterday the suspension of clinical trials of its experimental vaccine against COVID-19 after the appearance of a side effect in a patient, reported AFP.

Astra Zeneca is an industrial partner at the University of Oxford and its vaccine is one of the most advanced Western projects tested on tens of thousands of volunteers in the UK, Brazil, South Africa and the United States. It is in the last third phase of development, in which its safety and efficiency must be established.

Two other companies have begun testing a COVID-19 vaccine in the United States.

“We have voluntarily stopped the vaccines to allow an analysis of the safety data by an independent commission,” a company spokesman said in a statement.

“This is a routine action that is required when a potentially unexplained disease occurs in research,” he added.

It is not known what side effect it is or how big it is, but according to the specialized publication “Stat”, the patient in question will recover.

This can affect the vaccine development schedule. The British health minister said on Monday that he expected clinical trial results for Astra Zeneca by the end of the year or early 2021.

The laboratory has already signed preliminary contracts to sell hundreds of millions of doses in several countries if its vaccine proves effective.