The University of Oxford and the pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca said Monday that the coronavirus vaccine they are developing has shown 70 percent efficiency. Oxford-AstraZeneca further said the vaccine could be around 90 percent effective under “one dosage regimen.”
A press release published by the University of Oxford stated: “Phase 3 interim analysis including 131 cases of Covid-19 indicates that the vaccine is 70.4% effective when data from two dosage regimens are combined.”
“At the two different dose regimens, the efficacy of the vaccine was 90% in one and 62% in the other,” further said the publication of the interim trial data from the phase III trials.
“An early indication that the vaccine could reduce transmission of the virus from an observed reduction in asymptomatic infections,” he added.
The Oxford statement also mentioned that there were no hospitalized or serious cases in anyone who received the vaccine.
Oxford and AstraZeneca are awaiting the results of phase III trials of their coronavirus vaccine candidate ‘Covishield’ in thousands of people around the world to demonstrate whether their vaccine is safe and effective.
“These findings show that we have an effective vaccine that will save many lives. It is exciting that we find that one of our dosing regimens can be around 90% effective and if this dosing regimen is used, more people could be vaccinated with the vaccine. planned Today’s announcement is only made possible by the many volunteers in our trial and the talented and hard-working team of researchers from around the world, “said Professor Andrew Pollard, Director of the Oxford Vaccine Group and Chief Investigator of the Oxford Vaccine Trial, was quoted in the press release.
Adar Poonawalla, Executive Director of the Serum Institute of India (SII), which has partnered with AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford to manufacture the vaccine in India, said: “Delighted to hear that Covishield, soon to be widely available, the vaccine # COVID19, will offer protection up to 90% in one dosage regimen and 62% in another. “
Advances in vaccines
The Oxford-AstraZeneca findings come days after two other drug makers, Pfizer and Moderna, reported preliminary results from late-stage trials showing their Covid-19 vaccines were nearly 95% effective.
The coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer has shown 95 percent efficacy in the last stage of the trial, the company said earlier this month.
The drugmaker said the efficacy of the vaccine developed with German partner BioNTech SE was consistent across all age and ethnic demographics, and that there were no major side effects, a sign that immunization could be used widely across the world. world.
Efficacy in adults over 65, who are at particular risk from the virus, was greater than 94%.
Meanwhile, Moderna also announced last week that its experimental Covid-19 ‘mRNA-1273’ vaccine was 94.5% effective in preventing coronavirus. The statement was issued based on interim data from a late-stage clinical trial.
