LONDON – Oxford University announced on Saturday it was resuming trials for a coronavirus vaccine being developed with the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, just days after the study was suspended following reported side effects in a UK patient.
In a statement, the university confirmed the resumption at all its UK clinical trial sites after regulators moved ahead after a break on Sunday.
“The independent review process has come to a conclusion and trials will resume in the UK following the recommendations of both the Independent Safety Review Committee and the UK regulator, MHRA,” he said.
The vaccine developed by Oxford and AstraZeneca is considered the strongest contender among dozens of coronavirus vaccines at various stages of worldwide testing.
British Health Secretary Matt Hancock welcomed the resumption, saying in a tweet that it was “good news for everyone” that the hearing was “back up and running.”
The university said in large experiments such as this that “it is expected that some participants will be upset and each case must be carefully evaluated for a careful assessment of safety.”
He says about 18,000 people worldwide have been vaccinated so far. Some of the most affected countries – Britain, Brazil, South Africa and the US. No volunteers are participating in this trial.
Brazil’s health director, Anvisa, said on Saturday that he had approved the resumption of “Oxford vaccine” tests in the South American country after receiving official information from AstraZeneca.
Although Antford will not disclose information about a patient’s illness due to a participant’s confidentiality, a spokeswoman for Ast Strazeneca said earlier this week that a woman had developed severe neurological symptoms that prompted her to stop. In particular, it is said that a woman develops symptoms consistent with transverse mellitus, which is a rare inflammation of the spine.
The university stressed that it is “committed to the safety of our participants and the highest standards of conduct in our studies and will closely monitor safety.”
Pause in drug trials is common and AstraZeneca’s share price fell sharply after the announcement on Tuesday following a temporary hold.
The Particip Xford-AstraZeneca study was closed several days earlier in July, when neurological symptoms were developed by participants who were diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, the researchers said, adding that the vaccine was not relevant.
During the third and final phase of the test, researchers look for any signs of possible side effects that may have been detected in previous patient research. Due to their large size, the study is considered to be the most important study phase, in order to select the less common side effects and establish safety. The effectiveness of these tests is also assessed by tracking who falls ill and who is not between vaccinated patients and patients receiving dummy sh.
Cambridge University intensive care medicine spokesman Dr. Char. Charlotte Summers said the pause was an indication that Oxford’s team was putting safety issues first, but that it led to “a lot of unbearable speculation”.
“To tackle the global COVID-19 epidemic, we need to develop vaccines and therapies that make people feel comfortable using them, so maintaining public confidence is essential that we stick to the evidence and not make any conclusions before information becomes available.” .
Scientists, including experts from the World Health Organization and others around the world, have tried to keep an eye on expectations of imminent success for the coronavirus vaccine, insisting that vaccine tests are rarely straightforward.
Italy’s health minister, Roberto Spirenza, welcomed the resumption of the vaccine trial, but warned that prudence was still needed.
“Science is working to give the world efficient and safe treatments and vaccines,” he said. “Meanwhile, the key is to keep our behavior going.”
Italy, which had zero ground for an outbreak in Europe, is one of the main countries investing in the AstraZeneca vaccine.
The other two vaccines in the United States are in large, final-stage trials, one manufactured by Moderna Inc. and the other by Pfizer and Germany’s Bioentech.
