The late-stage of the coronavirus vaccine trials have been temporarily stopped by the developer AstraZeneca to assess the appearance of suspicions adverse effects that one trial participant manifested. The UK participant developed an “undesirable and serious side effect.”
According to La Libre, AstraZeneca late-stage trials – which is one of the most advanced being run globally – involves voluntaries in countries including the UK, Brazil and the US.
In a statement provided to health outlet Statnews, the multinational declared that an independent committee would be tasked with reviewing the appearance of the side effect. According to AstraZeneca, “This is a routine action which has to happen whenever there is a potentially unexplained illness in one of the trials.”
AstraZeneca’s vaccine trials are among the most advanced being run by companies worldwide. The pharma firm has already pre-sold millions of doses to the EU, out of which some 3 million are set to be for Belgium.
The nature of the adverse effect in the UK patient remains unknown as no specific indications nor details have been released about it.
Throughout the trials, the firm had already reported minor side effects, such as pain or fever, leading some experts to infer that the new side effect in question could be more serious than that.
AstraZeneca, together with its rivals Pfizer and Moderna, had all announced they expected to have a covid-19 vaccine ready for public release within the first months of 2021.
At the beginning of August, Russia announced the release of a first coronavirus vaccine which raised doubts and concerns among the scientific community for its expedite release to the public.
In Belgium, a successful bid by AstraZeneca to obtain an exemption from a product liability clause from the EU sparked criticism from scientists and industry experts, who defined the company’s move as shocking.
