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LONDON: British drug group AstraZeneca and Oxford University said on Monday (November 23) that their jointly developed vaccine against COVID-19 has shown “an average efficacy of 70 percent” in trials.
“The efficacy and safety of this vaccine confirm that it will be highly effective against COVID-19 and will have an immediate impact on this public health emergency,” said Pascal Soriot, CEO of AstraZeneca, in a statement.
Results ranged from 62 to 90 percent efficacy depending on the vaccine dose.
The vaccine was 90 percent effective in preventing COVID-19 when given as a half dose followed by a full dose at least one month apart, according to data from late-stage trials in Britain and Brazil.
Another dosage regimen showed an efficacy of 62 percent when administered as two full doses separated by at least one month and the combined analysis of both dosage regimens resulted in an average efficacy of 70 percent. All the results were statistically significant.
No serious safety events related to the vaccine have been confirmed and it was well tolerated in both dosing regimens, he said.
The 70 percent average is lower compared to the effectiveness of coronavirus vaccines tested by rivals Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna, which have exceeded 90 percent.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson praised the “fantastic” news that the vaccine could be as effective as 90 percent, but said it would still require safety checks.
“Incredibly exciting news that the Oxford vaccine has been shown to be so effective in trials,” Johnson said on Twitter. “There are still more security checks ahead, but these are fantastic results.”
Preliminary results from the British drugmaker’s trial mark a new breakthrough in the fight against a pandemic that has killed nearly 1.4 million people and rocked the world economy.
The interim analysis was based on 131 infections between participants who received the vaccine and those in the control group who received an established menengitis vaccine.
The data comes after US rivals released interim data in recent weeks showing an efficiency of more than 90 percent.
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British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said it was “fantastic news” that the data showed that the COVID-19 vaccine could be up to 90 percent effective and reduce its transmission.
“These figures … show that the vaccine in the correct dose can be up to 90 percent effective,” he told Sky News, following an announcement from AstraZeneca.
“We have orders for 100 million doses and, if all goes well, most of the launch will be in the new year.”
Hancock said AstraZeneca, Oxford and the drug regulator would have to study the results to see how best to administer the vaccine once it is determined to be safe.
“One of the things that the regulator will have to look at is whether the program on how the doses are made can lead to the 90 percent effectiveness figure, if that is the proper way to carry out the Oxford vaccine,” he told the BBC. TV.
He also said there was evidence in the report that the vaccine could reduce transmission of the disease.
“Now, of course, that would be very good news if confirmed, because obviously what we want to do is not only prevent people from contracting the disease, but also stop its transmission,” he said.
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On Nov. 16, the United States-based Moderna Inc said its experimental vaccine was shown to be 94.5 percent effective according to an initial data analysis.
A week earlier, Pfizer and BioNTech SE of Germany said that their vaccine candidate had demonstrated greater than 90 percent efficacy which rose to 95 percent with analysis of the full trial data.
Russia’s Nov. 11 Sputnik-V vaccine was also shown to be more than 90 percent effective, though it was only based on 20 infections.
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