Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca on Tuesday said it has paused late-stage trials of its experimental coronavirus vaccine after a study p...
Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca on Tuesday said it has paused late-stage trials of its experimental coronavirus vaccine after a study participant developed an unexplained illness, AP reported. The vaccine, developed with University of Oxford, has been widely seen as one of the leading candidates against the infection.
In a statement, the company said it is a “routine” pause because of “a potentially unexplained illness”. AstraZeneca said that in large trials, illnesses sometimes happen by chance, and added that it was working to expedite review of this to minimise any potential impact on the vaccine timeline. “This is a routine action which has to happen whenever there is a potentially unexplained illness in one of the trials, while it is investigated, ensuring we maintain the integrity of the trials,” a spokesperson said.
The nature and severity of the volunteer’s illness is not clear. According to The New York Times, the participant is from the United Kingdom and was found to have transverse myelitis, an inflammatory syndrome that affects the spinal cord and is often sparked by viral infections. The report said it remains unclear whether the illness was directly linked to AstraZeneca’s vaccine.
Deborah Fuller, a University of Washington researcher working on a different coronavirus vaccine, told AP it’s reassuring that the company is...
