Coronavirus: Unexpectedly, AstraZeneca Vaccine Phase 3 Trial Suspended

2020-09-09

On September 8, British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca announced that it had suspended the global phase III clinical trial of the COVID-19 vaccine AZD1222 (ChAdOx1) due to an UNEXPLAINED disease in a British volunteer.

As one of the companies with the fastest progress in the research and development of COVID-19 vaccines in the world, AstraZeneca has suspended clinical trials in the final sprint stage, which has attracted great attention from the market. Affected by this, AstraZeneca plunged 8% after the market on September 8.

It is understood that AZD1222 (ChAdOx1) is a COVID-19 vaccine jointly developed by Oxford University and its derivative company Vaccitech. It uses a replication-deficient chimpanzee virus vector, which is based on a weakened version of the common cold virus (adenovirus). This virus can cause chimpanzee infection and contains genetic material from the spike protein of the new coronavirus. After being vaccinated, the immune system will recognize the surface spike protein and trigger the immune system to attack the new coronavirus that invades the human body.

On August 31, AstraZeneca announced on its official website that the new Coronavirus pneumonia vaccine AZD1222 (ChAdOx1) has entered a phase III clinical trial. It will recruit 30,000 adults 18 years or older in the United States for trials to evaluate its safety, effectiveness and immunogenicity . Not only that, the clinical development of AZD1222 (ChAdOx1) is also advancing globally, with late-stage clinical trials in the UK, Brazil and South Africa, and plans to start trials in Japan and Russia. Up to 50,000 participants were recruited globally to provide data for people of different races.

While countries were eagerly looking forward to the new Coronavirus pneumonia vaccine, AZD1222 (ChAdOx1), which entered the sprint stage, was pressed the “pause button.” AstraZeneca announced on September 8 that it had suspended the global phase III clinical trial of AZD1222 (ChAdOx1) due to an unexplained disease in a British volunteer.

AstraZeneca said in a statement: As part of the ongoing global randomized trial of the new coronavirus vaccine, in order to review safety data, our standard review procedures have resulted in the suspension of vaccination. This is a routine behavior. In the course of the investigation, once a potential disease of unknown cause appears in a trial, this behavior must be taken to ensure the integrity of the trial.

AstraZeneca emphasized: “In large trials, diseases occasionally occur, but they must be independently reviewed and carefully checked. We are working hard to speed up the review of individual events to minimize any potential impact on the trial schedule. We are committed to participating The safety of the participants and the highest standards of conduct in the experiment.”

Just as countries all over the world are eagerly looking forward to it, and seeing success in sight, AstraZeneca suddenly tentatively scheduled continued phase 3 trials, which is a blow to everyone. I believe that at this time, US President Trump might be the most disappointed one, because he just proposed the “October Surprise” plan last week, and he should approve the universal vaccination of the new coronavirus vaccine in October. So far, I haven’t seen any explanation from the US government and the president about this incident.

In any case, it seems that vaccines will be the last hope to control the spread of the new coronavirus. The AstraZeneca incident is only a reminder to all countries and teams that develop vaccines to pay attention to any abnormalities that occur during the testing process to ensure the vaccine Security.

AstraZeneca suspends vaccine testing. I believe it is only temporary. If problems are found and the problems are solved, the vaccine will continue to be tested. We all need to maintain hope and patience.

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