HIGHLIGHTS
- The developers of the vaccine earlier this month said they are encouraged by the immune response they have seen in trials so far
- The Oxford vaccine project is already into final stage of human trials
Positive news on initial trials of the University of Oxford’s potential COVID-19 vaccine that has been licensed to AstraZeneca could be announced as soon as Thursday, ITV’s political editor Robert Peston said, citing a source. Phase III trials of the covid vaccine candidate, involving thousands of human volunteers, began last month in Brazil.
“I am hearing there will be positive news soon (perhaps tomorrow) on initial trials of the Oxford Covid-19 vaccine that is backed by AstraZeneca,” Peston said in a blog post.
“Apparently the vaccine is generating the kind of antibody and T-cell (killer cell) response that the researchers would hope to see.”
“If the Oxford vaccine is proven effective, it could go into mass production as early as September,” he said.
AstraZeneca Plc climbed 5% in London after ITV.com reported that The Lancet medical journal is due to release positive news on the vaccine the company is developing with University of Oxford researchers.
More than a dozen different vaccines are in various stages of testing worldwide, including in Britain, China, India and the U.S.
The Russian defence ministry today said it had developed a “safe” coronavirus vaccine following clinical trials on a group of volunteers. The ministry said 18 people had participated in the research and were discharged without “serious adverse events, health complaints, complications or side effects”.
Another vaccine maker Moderna Inc said on Tuesday it plans to start a late stage clinical trial for its COVID-19 vaccine candidate on or around July 27. Moderna said it will conduct the trial at 87 study locations, all in the United States.
Moderna Inc.’s Covid-19 vaccine produced antibodies to the coronavirus in all patients tested in an initial safety trial, US government researchers said on Tuesday.
Indian pharmaceutical company Zydus today said it has started human studies for its potential COVID-19 vaccine. In the human trials, Zydus will enrol over 1,000 subjects across multiple clinical study sites in India. (With Agency Inputs
