The trials of one of the main vaccines against the coronavirus and of which Spain acquired 30 million doses last August, have been suspended after one of the study participants suffered a “potentially inexplicable disease.”
AstraZeneca thus paralyzes the trials that were in phase three of a vaccine that is being developed in collaboration with the University of Oxford.
In a statement, pharmaceutical AstraZeneca claimed to have “voluntarily paused” the phase 3 clinical trial, which began in July, to allow for a “single event” review by an independent committee.
“This is a routine action that has to happen whenever there is a potentially unexplained illness in one of the trials, while it is being investigated, ensuring that we maintain the integrity of the trials,” said a company spokesperson. “We are working to expedite the single event review to minimize any potential impact on the trial schedule.”
At the moment, it is not clear where the patient is, nor the nature and severity of his new illness.
Arrests during clinical trials are not uncommon, but this is believed to be the first time it has occurred in a COVID-19 vaccine trial.
AstraZeneca is one of nine companies currently in late stage phase 3 trials for their vaccine candidates. This vaccine, called AZD1222, uses a weakened version of an adenovirus that causes the common cold that has been engineered to encode the protein that the new coronavirus uses to invade cells.
In early trials, the vaccine produced a human immune response, underscoring its position as a leading candidate in the race to combat a virus that has already caused hundreds of thousands of deaths and crippled the global economy.
