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Setback for one of the most promising Covid vaccine candidates under study, the so-called ‘Oxford vaccine’. Following a suspicious reaction in just one of the volunteers, out of a total of 50,000, who were inoculated with the drug, the multinational AstraZeneca, which is developing the vaccine together with the University of Oxford, has in fact decided to suspend the trial and phase 3 testing. But only “temporarily and as a precaution”, while verifications by an independent committee of experts have started.
On the day of the suspension of the tests, Pope Francis also spoke on the subject of Covid vaccines, warning that “too many partisan interests” are concentrated around them. “For example – he warned – there are those who would like to appropriate possible solutions, such as vaccines, and then sell them to others. Some take advantage of the situation to foment divisions: seek economic or political advantages.
As for the candidate ‘Oxford’, it was therefore decided to stop to investigate a “potential inexplicable” reaction in one of the participants in Great Britain who, according to what ANSA learned, would have manifested spinal inflammation. The suspension, however, the company specified, is a “routine action taken during testing in the event of an unexplained reaction” and to “ensure the integrity of the testing process.” Data from initial trials looked very promising, with the vaccine capable of producing a robust immune response and only weak side effects. Now the verification pause, however, stressed the English Health Minister Matt Hancock, does not indicate a failure: the research on “this vaccine is a challenge – he said – it is not the first time that this has happened for the Oxford project”. discontinuation for precautionary reasons is a standard safety procedure in clinical trials. There was already a hiatus before the summer, resolved in the end without problems.
In fact, a first volunteer had already shown a suspicious reaction, which later turned out to be unrelated to the vaccine. In addition, the suspension “does not concern the 50,000 volunteers who have already been vaccinated, who will continue to be monitored and studied.” In this context – said Piero di Lorenzo, general director of the Irbm research institute in Pomezia, which produced the experimental doses of the vaccine – the experimentation is still ongoing ». The stoppage, on the other hand, refers to the recruitment of new volunteers for testing in countries where experimentation has not yet started. It is currently underway in the UK, USA, Brazil and South Africa. However, everything could resume next week, reports the Financial Times, citing some sources. And AstraZeneca itself is working to “expedite the review of the single event in order to minimize any potential impacts at the time of the study.”
Certainly, the wait is long and the European Commission has already signed a contract that allows member countries to buy 300 million doses of ‘Oxford’ with an option for another 100. For his part, the Minister of Health, Roberto Speranza, who had mentioned the possibility of having the first doses already within the year, at the same time specifying that everything will depend on the progress of the tests, he affirmed that “Italy will continue to invest at the forefront in the investigation of the anti-Covid vaccine” and the precautionary suspension of experimentation by AstraZeneca “demonstrates the seriousness of the rigid verification protocols.” No vaccine, he assured, “will never be authorized without full guarantee for people’s health.” Meanwhile, the European Commission has also concluded talks to secure 300 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNtech anti-Covid vaccine, in an advanced stage of testing. At the moment, scientists reiterate, however, the call for caution and for Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases in the US, a vaccine is unlikely to arrive within a year.
