AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine shows 74% efficacy in large US trial
AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine demonstrated 74% efficacy at preventing symptomatic disease, a figure that increased to 83.5% in people aged 65 and older, according to long-awaited results of the company’s US clinical trial published on Wednesday.
Overall efficacy of 74% was lower than the interim 79% figure reported by the British drugmaker in March, a result AstraZeneca revised days later to 76% after a rare public rebuke from health officials that the figure was based on “outdated information.”
The data looked at more than 26,000 volunteers in the United States, Chile and Peru, who received two doses of the vaccine spaced about a month apart. The results were published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
There were no cases of severe or critical symptomatic COVID-19 among the more than 17,600 participants who got the vaccine, compared with 8 such cases among the 8,500 volunteers who got the placebo. There were also two deaths in the placebo group but none among those who received the vaccine.
“I was pleasantly surprised,” Dr. Anna Durbin, a vaccine researcher at Johns Hopkins University and one of the study’s investigators, said of the overall result. “It was also highly protective against severe disease and hospitalization,” she said.
There were no cases of a rare but serious blood clotting side effect called thrombosis with thrombocytopenia that has been linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine developed with Oxford University researchers.
AstraZeneca said in late July it planned to file for full approval with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, rather than seek emergency use authorization. Chief Executive Pascal Soriot told a media briefing at the time he hoped the vaccine could still play a role in the United States, even though the process was taking longer than expected.
The company is exploring booster doses for people whohave already been vaccinated with two doses of either its ownshot or mRNA-based vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna.
The vaccine, known as Vaxzevria, is authorized for use in more than 170 countries. A spokesperson said the company expects to file for U.S. approval later this year.
Durbin said she does not expect Vaxzevria to be used much in the United States, but securing FDA approval “does give them gravitas.”
AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine demonstrated 74% efficacy at preventing symptomatic disease, a figure that increased to 83.5% in people aged 65 and older, according to long-awaited results of the company’s US clinical trial published on Wednesday. Overall efficacy of 74% was lower than the interim 79% figure reported by the British…
Recent Posts
- Dell leak details next-gen Windows on Arm chips, 29-hour laptops, and more
- Canon’s flagship EOS R1 is finally official, and it will have never-before-seen power
- Tado adds Matter to new smart heating range
- Google now offers ‘web’ search — and an AI opt-out button
- Ayn’s new gaming handheld looks like a PSP, and it might just fill the hole in your heart left by Sony’s best portable
Archives
- May 2024
- April 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- December 2011