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LONDON (AP) – AstraZeneca said on Monday that advanced-stage trials showed its coronavirus vaccine to be up to 90% effective, giving public health officials hope they may soon have access to a vaccine easier to distribute than some of its rivals.
The results are based on an interim analysis of trials in the UK and Brazil of a vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and manufactured by AstraZeneca. No hospitalizations or severe cases of COVID-19 have been reported in people receiving the vaccine.
“These results show that we have an effective vaccine that will save many lives,” Professor Andrew Pollard, chief investigator of the trial, said in a statement. “Oddly enough, we’ve found that one of our dosing regimens can be around 90% effective.”
AstraZeneca is the third major pharmaceutical company to report late-stage results for its potential COVID-19 vaccine as the world anxiously awaits the vaccines that will end the pandemic that has killed nearly 1.4 million people. Pfizer and Moderna reported preliminary results from late-stage trials last week showing their vaccines were almost 95% effective.
Unlike the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, the Oxford-AstraZeneca candidate should not be stored at ultra-cold temperatures, which facilitates its distribution, especially in developing countries. All three vaccines must be approved by regulatory agencies before they can be widely distributed.
“The Oxford vaccine can be stored in the refrigerator, as opposed to the freezer like the other two vaccines, which means it is a more convenient solution for use around the world,” said Peter Horby, professor. of emerging infectious diseases and global health at Oxford.
The findings come as a second wave of COVID-19 hits many countries, once again shutting down businesses, limiting social interactions and crushing the global economy.
AstraZeneca said it would immediately seek early approval of the vaccine when possible, and that it would seek an emergency use list from the World Health Organization, so that it can make the vaccine available in low income countries.
The AstraZeneca trial looked at two different dosing regimens. Half a dose of the vaccine followed by a full dose at least a month later was 90% effective. Another approach, giving patients two full doses one month apart, was 62% effective. The combined results showed an average efficiency rate of 70%.
The vaccine uses a weakened version of a common cold virus that is combined with genetic material for the spike protein characteristic of the virus that causes COVID-19. After vaccination, the spike protein prepares the immune system to attack the virus if it later infects the body.
The vaccine can be transported under “normal refrigerated conditions” of 2 to 8 degrees Celsius (36 to 46 degrees Fahrenheit), AstraZeneca said. By comparison, Pfizer plans to distribute its vaccine using specially designed “thermal senders” that use dry ice to maintain temperatures of minus -70 degrees Celsius (minus -94 degrees Fahrenheit).
Peter Openshaw, professor of experimental medicine at Imperial College London, said the discovery that a smaller starting dose is more effective than a larger one is good news because it can lower costs and mean more people can be vaccinated.
“The report that an initial half-dose is better than a full dose seems counterintuitive to those of us who view vaccines as normal drugs: with drugs, we expect higher doses. have greater effects and more side effects, ”he said. “But the immune system doesn’t work like that.”
The results reported on Monday come from trials in the UK and Brazil that involved 23,000 people. Advanced stage trials are also underway in the United States, Japan, Russia, South Africa, Kenya and Latin America, with further trials planned in other European and Asian countries.
AstraZeneca has increased its manufacturing capacity so that it can deliver hundreds of millions of doses of vaccine starting in January, CEO Pascal Soriot said earlier this month.
Soriot said on Monday that Oxford’s simpler vaccine supply chain and AstraZeneca’s commitment to providing it on a non-profit basis during the pandemic means it will be affordable and available to people around the world.
“The efficacy and safety of this vaccine confirms that it will be very effective against COVID-19 and will have an immediate impact on this public health emergency,” Soriot said.
UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock said he felt “great relief” at the news of AstraZeneca.
Britain has ordered 100 million doses of the Oxford vaccine, and the government says several million doses can be produced before the end of the year if approved by regulators.
Just a few months ago, “the idea that by November we would have three vaccines, all of which are very effective … I would have given my eyes off for,” Hancock said.
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Follow AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
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