‘Intriguing’ results for Oxford vaccine

By | November 23, 2020

A coronavirus vaccine jointly developed by the University of Oxford and drug giant AstraZeneca has shown an “average efficacy of 70 per cent” in early trials and could be rolled out later this year if approved.

“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.

Results found the vaccine ranged from 62 and 90 per cent efficacy depending on the dosage.

Professor Andrew Pollard, Director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, said the discovery marked a “really exciting day” and a major step towards the end of the coronavirus pandemic.

He also said “intriguingly”, a subgroup in the study that received a half dose of the vaccine initially followed by a full second dose saw results around 90 per cent effective.

The reasons for this are unclear at present with “more work to be done” he said, adding that it could be the smaller dose is “priming the immune system” to respond.

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

But Prof Pollard said it’s difficult to compare results between companies when “we don’t know exactly what everyone is measuring.”

“In the end, what we need to be able to do to get back to normal and control the pandemic is to have people around the world vaccinated. We need all the vaccines to be able to do that”

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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 per cent 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 per cent 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 per cent.”

REDUCTION IN TRANSMISSION

The Jenner Institute’s Professor Sarah Gilbert said early data shows the vaccine had helped with a “reduction in the number of asymptomatic transmission” in what could be a key way to help reduce the spread of the virus.

She said early results also show that no severe cases where hospitalised with the virus.

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 Organisation to accelerate vaccine availability in low-income countries.

The company’s executive vice-president or operations and information technology, Pam Cheng said “we have not wasted a single day” in setting up a global supply chain for the vaccine.

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She estimated 200 million doses would be available by the end of 2020 and 700 million doses by end of March 2021.

The company said the vaccine could also 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, meaning it could be distributed through existing networks.

The Moderna and Pfizer versions require specialist cold storage.

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 per cent 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.

The Australian government has signed a deal to use the Oxford vaccine if it is approved for use in Australia after passing the Therapeutic Goods Administration’s approval processes.

If successful, 3.8 million doses will be delivered to Australia in early 2021 with another 30 million doses manufactured in Australia from early 2021 in partnership with CSL.

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