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The vaccine, developed in collaboration with the University of Oxford, was considered a leader in the global race to develop an anti-Covid-19 vaccine, and the suspension affects the chances of bringing the product to market by the end of the year, as the company previously reported.
AstraZeneca says it has stopped self-testing for an independent commission to look at vaccine safety data and is doing everything it can to speed up the analysis of this one-time event so that the timing of vaccine development looks what least affected possible.
“It is a routine measure that should be taken if there is a potentially unexplained illness in one of the testing phases,” the company said in a statement.
The nature of the disease and when it occurred is not disclosed, but the test participant is estimated to be cured, according to Stat News, the publication that first reported the suspension of tests for “a possible serious side effect.”
The US Drug Authority defines an adverse event as one in which the available information suggests a possible link to the drug being tested.
According to the New York Times, which quotes a person familiar with the situation, a test participant in the UK was diagnosed with transverse myelitis, an inflammatory syndrome that affects the spine and is often caused by viral infections.
It is not clear if the disease is directly related to the AstraZeneca vaccine, according to the NYT.
The suspension also affects vaccine tests conducted by other companies, which are looking to see if there are similar reactions.
The vaccine, called AZD1222, is being tested in several stages in the United Kingdom, the United States, Brazil, South Africa and India. It is also being tested in Japan and Russia.
Shares of AstraZeneca fell 8% and those of its rivals in the race for coronavavirus vaccines went public.
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