[ad_1]
To speed up the vaccine approval process in the country, the UK drug regulator has begun ongoing review of COVID-19 vaccines developed by Pfizer Inc. and AstraZeneca Plc, according to Bloomberg.
Ongoing reviews allow regulators to view real-time clinical data and discuss ongoing trials and manufacturing processes with companies so that approvals can be granted more quickly. The approach is designed to accelerate access to medicines and vaccines when there is a public health need.
The move supports the UK’s plans to potentially get ahead of the European Union in approving a vaccine.
Pfizer said this week that it had not yet reached a key milestone that will help researchers know how effective the injection is. AstraZeneca and Oxford are also aiming to publish late-stage trial data this year.
A COVID-19 vaccine may be available to some people before Christmas, Kate Bingham, chair of the UK government’s vaccine task force, said in an interview.
“The first phase III efficacy data for the main vaccine candidates should be available by the end of 2020, subject to accumulating sufficient infection rates within clinical trial cohorts to demonstrate the efficacy of the vaccines. The endpoint The main thing is to demonstrate that the vaccine can protect against SARS-CoV-2 infection and reduce the burden of symptoms, “Bingham wrote in The Lancet medical journal on Tuesday.
“If the first two vaccines, or any of them, show that they are safe and effective, I think there is a chance that the vaccine launch will start on this side of Christmas, but otherwise I think it is more realistic to expect that let it be so early next year, “Kate Bingham said on BBC television.
