Oxford says its vaccine could be ready in due course

LONDON – The coronavirus vaccine under development by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca could still be made available at a similar time to other major candidates, according to the Oxford vaccine trial manager.

Andrew Pollard made his comments shortly after a peer review of the phase two trials, released Thursday, showed the Oxford-AstraZeneca shot triggered a robust immune response in the elderly.

The results raised hopes that he might be able to protect the age groups most at risk from Covid-19.

Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, said the researchers were “really pleased” with the results, adding that he was “optimistic” that the data for the third phase would be available before Christmas.

The first results of the phase three trials will determine the effectiveness of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.

Separately, Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna have already published preliminary data from their respective phase three trials, and both have been shown to be highly protective against Covid infection.

Drugmakers and research centers are scrambling to deliver a vaccine to help end the coronavirus pandemic that has claimed more than 1.3 million lives.

“We are in no hurry and this is not a competition with other developers. What we’re trying to do is make sure we have very high quality data, working with our partners in other countries, and being able to present the results of the trial, ”Pollard said during an online press briefing.

“As to the timing of that, that will be when he’s ready.”

The next step, Pollard explained, would be to provide regulators with all the data and wait for a decision on licensing.

“If this process happens at the proper haste and speed in the pandemic, then it is possible that things will line up so that there is not much difference in timing between different vaccines,” he said. he declared.

“I think to understand exactly which will happen when we need to have a lot more information than I don’t have at the time, for example, Pfizer or Moderna will be delivering their first doses.”

“We don’t know where I’m looking at it from, other people will have to respond to that,” Pollard said.

US Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar told CNBC earlier this week that the Food and Drug Administration would act as “quickly” as possible to phase out Pfizer and Moderna’s coronavirus vaccines for use in ’emergency.

However, huge challenges remain before a vaccine can be deployed. The global battle to secure potential supplies has sounded the alarm on equitable access, while questions remain about logistics, distribution and costs.