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Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia– The British health agency, the Medicines Health Regulatory Authority, said it was safe to resume clinical trials of the Covid-19 vaccine after being suspended due to safety concerns. AstraZeneca briefly stopped the trials earlier this week due to the possibility of unexplained illness.
Reporting from CNBC International The company declined to release medical information about the clinical trial delay, but indicated earlier this week that a potentially unexplained illness was being investigated. Although trials may now continue in the UK, the status of trials elsewhere remains unclear.
“Companies will continue to work with health authorities around the world and receive guidance on when further clinical trials can proceed to provide a comprehensive, fair and cost-effective vaccine during this pandemic,” AstraZeneca said in a statement. CNBC International, Sunday (09/13/2020).
The University of Oxford, which is developing the vaccine in partnership with AstraZeneca, said on Saturday that so far about 18,000 people had received vaccines in the trials.
“In a large trial like this one, some participants are expected to feel unwell and each case must be carefully evaluated to ensure a careful safety evaluation,” Oxford said in a statement.
Earlier, AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot told a private press conference that the disease occurred in a UK woman who exhibited neurological symptoms consistent with an inflammatory disorder of the spine called transverse myelitis.
Soriot also confirmed that the AstraZeneca clinical trial had been stopped once in early July after a participant developed neurological symptoms, but the disease was apparently not related to the experimental vaccine.
AstraZeneca’s potential coronavirus vaccine, called AZD1222, is one of the pioneers in the race for a safe and effective vaccine that can reduce the global pandemic. The company launched its final test phase in late August. It is one of at least three candidate vaccines, along with Pfizer and Moderna, entering the final stages of trials.
Officials from the World Health Organization (WHO) have previously praised the AstraZeneca vaccine candidate as one of the most promising in development. On Thursday, WHO chief scientist Dr. Soumya Swaminathan said there is no need to be “too discouraged” and said things like this could happen.
“I think this is great … it could be a call or a lesson for everyone to be aware of the fact that there are ups and downs in research, there are ups and downs in clinical development and we have to be prepared for that,” Soumya said.
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