The third major COVID-19 vaccine shown to be effective and cheap | National and World

London — Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca said on Monday that the COVID-19 vaccine is highly effective in late-stage trials and is a relatively inexpensive and easy-to-store product that could be the vaccine of choice for developing countries. He said he highlighted the outlook.

The results are based on an interim analysis of trials in the UK and Brazil of a vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and manufactured by AstraZeneca. No hospitalizations or severe cases of COVID-19 have been reported in vaccinated patients.

AstraZeneca is the third to report late data on a potential COVID-19 vaccine as the world awaits scientific progress to overwhelm the global economy and end a pandemic that has killed 1.4 million people. It is a major pharmaceutical company. However, unlike other vaccines, the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine does not need to be stored at very low temperatures, making it easier to distribute, especially in developing countries.

“I think these are really exciting results,” Dr. Andrew Pollard, a senior researcher at the trial, said at a press conference. “Vaccines can be stored at the temperature of the refrigerator and can be distributed worldwide using the usual immunization distribution system. Therefore, our goal is to … ensure that vaccines are accessible from anywhere. I think I was able to actually manage it. To do that. “

The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine was 90% effective in preventing COVID-19 in one of the tested dosing regimens. The other was less effective. Earlier this month, rival pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Moderna reported preliminary results for a late-stage trial showing that the vaccine was nearly 95% effective.

AstraZeneca vaccines can be stored at 2 to 8 degrees Celsius (36 to 46 degrees Fahrenheit), but Pfizer and Moderna products should be stored at temperatures close to minus 70 degrees Celsius (minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit).

AstraZeneca vaccine is also cheap.

AstraZeneca, which promised not to make a profit from the vaccine during a pandemic, has reached an agreement with the government and the International Health Organization to spend about $ 2.50 per dose. Pfizer vaccines cost about $ 20, while Modana vaccines range from $ 15 to $ 25, based on an agreement signed by the two companies to supply the vaccine to the US government.

All three vaccines must be approved by the regulatory authority before being widely distributed.

Oxford researchers and AstraZeneca emphasized that they are not competing with other projects and said that multiple vaccines are needed to reach a world population sufficient to end the pandemic.

“We need to be able to quickly make a lot of vaccines for the world. It would be best if we could do it with different technologies, and if one technology hits an obstacle, an alternative. There is diversity, and Oxford team leader Sara Gilbert told The Associated Press: “There will be more diversity here, but we don’t want to run out of raw materials in terms of manufacturing.” Told.

AstraZeneca said it would apply for early approval of the vaccine as soon as possible and ask the World Health Organization for an emergency use list to make the vaccine available in low-income countries.

The AstraZeneca trial considered two different dosing regimens. Half the dose of the vaccine followed by the full dose at least one month later was 90% effective. Another approach, in which the patient was given the full dose twice at monthly intervals, was 62% effective.

So overall, the vaccine efficacy rate was 70% when both dosing methods were considered.

According to Gilbert, researchers aren’t sure why it’s more effective to give more doses after half a dose, and will investigate further. But the answer is probably related to providing the exact right amount of vaccine for the best response, she said.

“I think you need the amount of Goldilocks. Don’t be too little, not too much. Too much can reduce the quality of your response …” she said. “I’m glad we saw it. Multiple doses because it turned out to be really important.”

The vaccine uses a weakened version of the common cold virus combined with the genetic material of the characteristic spike protein of the virus that causes COVID-19. After vaccination, the spike protein stimulates the immune system to attack the virus if it later infects the body.

Peter Openshaw, a professor of medicine at Imperial College London, found that lower initial doses were more effective than larger ones, reducing costs and allowing more people to vaccinate with a particular supply of vaccines. He said it was good news because it meant that he could be vaccinated.

“The report that the first half dose is better than the full dose seems counter-intuitive to those of us who consider vaccines to be regular drugs. For drugs, higher doses have greater effects and more. I expect it to have side effects, “he said. “But the immune system doesn’t work that way.”

The results reported on Monday come from trials in the UK and Brazil involving 23,000 people. Of these, 11,636 were vaccinated and the rest were vaccinated with placebo.

Overall, there were 131 cases of COVID-19. Details about how many people in the various groups got sick weren’t released on Monday, but researchers said they would be announced within the next 24 hours.

Late trials of the vaccine are also underway in the United States, Japan, Russia, South Africa, Kenya and Latin America, with further trials planned in other European and Asian countries.

The researchers said they hope to add a half-dose, full-dose regimen to the US trial within “a few weeks.” Before doing so, we need to discuss the change with the US Food and Drug Administration.

The AstraZeneca trial was suspended earlier this year after participants in a UK study reported a rare neurological disorder. The trial resumed immediately in most countries after the investigator determined that it had nothing to do with the vaccine, but the FDA postponed it for more than a month before resuming US studies.

Pascal Soriot, CEO, said earlier this month that AstraZeneca has increased its production capacity and will be able to supply hundreds of millions of vaccines starting in January.

AstraZeneca’s efforts to offer Oxford vaccines in a simpler supply chain and non-profit during a pandemic, said Monday, meant that people around the world would be able to afford it.

“We have confirmed that the efficacy and safety of this vaccine is very effective against COVID-19 and has immediate implications for this public health emergency,” Soriot said. I will.

British Health Minister Matt Hancock said he felt “great relief” in the news from AstraZeneca.

The UK has ordered 100 million doses of vaccine, and the government says it can produce millions of vaccines by the end of the year with regulatory approval.

Just a few months ago, “the idea that by November there are three vaccines, all of which are highly effective … I would have had my eyes on my teeth,” Hancock said.

From the beginning of the collaboration with AstraZeneca, Oxford scientists have provided the vaccine fairly to everyone in the world, preventing developed countries from hunting down the market like in previous pandemics. I have requested.

On Sunday, the world’s most powerful national leaders agreed to work together to ensure “affordable and equitable access” to COVID-19 drugs, tests and vaccines.

“Vaccines are not available in many countries, and protecting a few countries is not enough to bring the virus back to normal as it continues to recur and cause problems,” Gilbert said. “No one is safe until we are all safe.”