AstraZeneca Says Another COVID-19 Vaccine Study is Likely

Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca may be conducting another study of its COVID-19 vaccine after accidental lower dose shows higher efficacy.

The company’s CEO Pascal Soriot, told Bloomberg that the pharmaceutical company will likely conduct another global trial of the effectiveness of its COVID-19 vaccine trial.

This follows the disclosure that the more effective dosage in the existing Phase 3 clinical trial was actually administered by accident.

The company and its partner the University of Oxford reported interim results that showed 62% efficacy for a full two-dose regimen, and a 90% efficacy rate for a half-dose
followed by a full dose.

“Now that we’ve found what looks like a better efficacy we have to validate this, so we need to do an additional study,” said Soriot. He added that the new, likely global, study could be faster because it would need fewer subjects as the efficacy was already known to be high.

The Oxford vaccine’s rollout to the rest of the world likely won’t be affected according to the CEO. The studies that have been conducted, including safety data, are already in place from participants around the world outside of the U.S.

The vaccine has recently come under scrutiny in India. A participant in AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine trial in the country claims he had an adverse reaction after receiving a shot of the coronavirus vaccine that is in late-stage testing.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), India’s medical research regulator, is assisting an inquiry into the participant’s allegation. The ICMR had told Reuters on Sunday there is currently “no immediate cause of concern,” nor are there any plans to halt the trial.

The man said he experienced acute “neurological and psychological” side effects after he received the vaccine and is seeking 50 million rupees—around $676,000—in compensation.

This month, Pfizer and Moderna also reported that their vaccines were about 95% effective in preventing the illness.

Disclaimer: We have no position in any of the companies mentioned and have not been compensated for this article.