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[London 9th Reuters BREAKINGVIEWS]- British pharmaceutical company Astra ZenecaAZN.LIn a clinical trial (clinical trial) of a new coronavirus vaccine jointly developed by the University of Oxford in the UK, serious side effects occurred. There is a possibility that many of these cases will continue to appear in the future. The company announced on the 8th that it was suspending the trial worldwide after one of the volunteers who participated in the trial developed a mysterious illness. Although the activation of such safety measures is a normal response, expectations of an early outperformance of the new Corona may diminish.
Astra Zeneca will enter the verification work by an independent committee. No work deadline has been set and Pascal Sorio, the company’s CEO, said he would like to work quickly. That said, the news is a serious blow to the fight against the new Crown. The World Health Organization (WHO) described the vaccine as perhaps the most promising and developed in the world.
Other vaccine developments will also be negatively affected. Certainly, the AstraZeneca vaccine has a relatively high chance of having certain side effects. It uses a technique to carry another live virus, which can complicate the human body’s reaction. The technique uses a cold virus that is commonly transmitted by chimpanzees to inject new coronaviruses into cells to boost the immune system and fight actual infections.
Pfizer of the USAPFE.NAnd rice shaperMRNA.OThe vaccines being developed by companies like these use different technology, but there is a risk that the trial will be discontinued to ensure that they do not have the same side effects as AstraZeneca. The news of serious side effects could make people reluctant to participate in the trial.
This case may be bad news for governments. Many countries have already ordered billions of vaccines from pharmaceutical companies. Vaccinated people expect to be more active to go to the movies, travel by plane and go to work. The president of the United States, Trump, has even mentioned the possibility of supplying vaccines for the presidential elections in November. But the Astra Zeneca setbacks pointed to the fact that vaccine development takes a long time. The fastest record so far is four years.
If the vaccine is not given immediately, social restrictions are likely to be prolonged. The government may need to close communities and impose travel restrictions, and workers will avoid going to dense offices. From any point of view, the economic situation is likely to continue.
It also has a negative impact on pharmaceutical companies. Moderna and the German pharmaceutical company BioNtecBNTX.OThe market value of the stock has increased by $ 18 billion compared to the beginning of the year due to expectations of an early vaccine supply. There seems to be no remedy for investor enthusiasm.
● Background news
* AstraZeneca announced on the 8th that it will suspend worldwide clinical trials, including large-scale late-stage trials, because participants in the new Corona vaccine have developed a mysterious disease.
* The company explained that it would allow an independent committee to verify the safety data. To minimize the impact on the clinical trial schedule, the company said it will work to speed up verification work.
* The nature of the disease developed by the study participants is not disclosed. However, according to Stat News, participants are expected to recover.
(I am a columnist for “Reuters Breaking views”. This column is based on my personal opinion).
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