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An overview of the offices of the British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca PLC is shown in Macclesfield, Cheshire, on July 21, 2020 (Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP).
LONDON – A coronavirus vaccine developed by pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford has shown 70 percent effectiveness in trials involving 23,000 people, they said in a statement Monday.
The announcement comes after other drug trials developed by Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna announced greater than 90 percent effectiveness.
Results ranged from 62 to 90 percent effective depending on the dose of the vaccine, according to Monday’s statement.
AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot said his company’s vaccine will continue to be highly effective and will have an “immediate impact.”
The firm said it would seek to develop up to three billion doses of the vaccine in 2021 if it overcomes remaining regulatory hurdles.
While the drug showed 90 percent when given in half a dose followed by a full dose at least a month apart, the result was 62 percent when given in two full doses over the same time period.
“The combined analysis … resulted in an average efficiency of 70 percent,” he said.
He said the vaccine could be stored, transported and handled “under normal refrigeration conditions” of between two and eight degrees Celsius (36 to 46 degrees Fahrenheit) for at least six months.
‘Save many lives’
Currently, more than 23,000 adults are being evaluated in the trials, with the number expected to rise to 60,000, according to the statement.
The first results suggested that there were 131 cases of Covid-19 among the participants, but none were serious.
The tests are also being carried out in the United States, Japan, Russia, South Africa, Kenya and Latin America, with tests planned also in other European and Asian countries.
Oxford professor Andrew Pollard said the latest findings suggested the drug was “an effective vaccine that will save many lives.”
“It’s exciting, we’ve found that one of our dosing regimens can be around 90 percent effective and if this dosing regimen is used, more people could be vaccinated with the planned vaccine supply,” said Pollard, who is the Principal Investigator of the Oxford Vaccine Trial. .
“Today’s announcement is only made possible by the many volunteers in our trial and the talented and hardworking team of researchers from around the world.”
American biotech giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech have applied for approval to soon launch its coronavirus vaccine, a first step toward relief as mounting infections trigger the return of closures that traumatized nations and the global economy. at the beginning of this year.
G20 leaders said Sunday they would “spare no effort” to ensure the fair distribution of coronavirus vaccines around the world and to support poor countries, whose economies have been devastated by the crisis.
But while the club of the world’s richest nations adopted a unified tone, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was concerned that major deals on vaccines for the poorest nations had not yet been reached.
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