AstraZeneca/Oxford say Covid vaccine shows 70% efficacy

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LONDON, Nov 23, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – British drugs group AstraZeneca and the
University of Oxford on Monday said their jointly-developed vaccine against
Covid-19 has shown “an average efficacy of 70 percent” in trials.

“This vaccine’s efficacy and safety confirm that it will be highly
effective against Covid-19 and will have an immediate impact on this public
health emergency,” AstraZeneca chief executive Pascal Soriot said in a
statement.

The results ranged between 62 and 90 percent efficacy depending on the
vaccine dosage.

The 70-percent average is lower compared with the efficacy of coronavirus
vaccines trialed by rivals Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna which have come in
above 90 percent.

Monday’s statement said “positive high-level results from an interim
analysis of clinical trials of AZD1222 in the UK and Brazil showed the
vaccine was highly effective in preventing Covid-19… and no
hospitalisations or severe cases of the disease were reported in
participants.”

It added: “One dosing regimen (n=2,741) showed vaccine efficacy of 90
percent when AZD1222 was given as a half dose, followed by a full dose at
least one month apart.”

The pair said that regimen n=8,895 showed 62 percent efficacy when given
as two full doses at least one month apart.

“The combined analysis from both dosing regimens (n=11,636) resulted in an
average efficacy of 70 percent.”

AstraZeneca said it would “immediately prepare regulatory submission of
the data to authorities around the world that have a framework in place for
conditional or early approval”.

It added that it would seek emergency-use listing from the World Health
Organization to accelerate vaccine availability in low-income countries.

AstraZeneca said it is looking at a capacity of up to three billion doses
of the vaccine in 2021 pending regulatory approval.

It said the vaccine can be stored, transported and handled “at normal
refrigerated conditions” of between two and eight degrees Celsius (36-46
degrees Fahrenheit) for at least six months.

– ‘Save many lives’ –

More than 23,000 adults are currently being assessed in the trials, with
the number expected to rise to up to 60,000, the statement said.

“Clinical trials are also being conducted in the US, Japan, Russia, South
Africa, Kenya and Latin America with planned trials in other European and
Asian countries,” it added.

Oxford professor Andrew Pollard said the latest findings show “an effective
vaccine that will save many lives”.

“Excitingly, we’ve found that one of our dosing regimens may be around 90
percent effective and if this dosing regime is used, more people could be
vaccinated with planned vaccine supply.

“Today’s announcement is only possible thanks to the many volunteers in
our trial, and the hard working and talented team of researchers based around
the world,” added Pollard, who is chief investigator of the Oxford Vaccine
Trial.