[ad_1]
A few days after clinical trials of its corona vaccine were suspended, British-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca resumed trials. After safety was confirmed by the competent supervisory authority, human trials of the AZD1222 vaccine in Britain began again, the company said.
On Wednesday, AstraZeneca announced that it had “voluntarily suspended” clinical trials after a subject fell ill. It was not disclosed what the patient got sick from. However, earlier this week, an AstraZeneca spokesperson said a woman had developed severe neurological symptoms that prompted the test to pause. The New York Times cited a “person familiar with the situation” as having a condition called transverse myelitis. This is an inflammatory syndrome that affects the spinal cord and is often caused by viral infections.
Second break in a few months
Then an independent panel of experts examined the case. Like AstraZeneca, the World Health Organization (WHO) also stated that such interruption in a series of tests is a routine measure. In its statement on Saturday, the pharmaceutical company said it is “committed to the safety of trial participants and the highest standards in clinical trials.”
The current study was suspended for several days in July after a participant who received the vaccine developed neurological symptoms. It turned out to be an undiagnosed case of multiple sclerosis that was not related to the vaccine.
The AstraZeneca preparation is one of the nine potential vaccines in the world against the new coronavirus that are already in the final phase of testing III. The British-Swedish group developed the product together with the University of Oxford.
In addition to testing in the UK, AstraZeneca has also been investigating the effects of AZD1222 on 30,000 volunteers in a dozen US cities since late August. There are also smaller groups of test subjects in Brazil and other South American countries. The EU, US and other countries have already entered into agreements to supply the vaccine with the pharmaceutical company.
