British pharmaceutical group AstraZeneca said it had found “the winning formula” to improve its COVID-19 vaccine, developed in partnership with Oxford University.
The British lab announced in November that its vaccine was on average 70 percent effective in clinical trials, compared to more than 90 percent for vaccines from Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna, both already approved for use in several countries.
The results of the interim clinical studies showed large differences in the data due to two different protocols: the efficacy was 90 percent for volunteers who received a half dose first and then a full dose a month later, but only 62 percent for another group who were vaccinated with two full doses.
The results were criticized because the half-dose injection was due to an error and a relatively small group had followed this protocol. The company then announced that its vaccine “requires an additional study.”
But Pascal Soriot, AstraZeneca’s CEO, assured the company’s vaccine provided “100% protection” against severe forms of Covid-19, telling the Sunday Times newspaper, “We think we came up with the winning formula and how we the efficacy can get that, after two doses, is above that with all the others “.
He added, “I can’t tell you more because we will publish at some point”.
The Oxford University / AstraZeneca vaccine is eagerly awaited in the UK as it is relatively inexpensive and can be stored in conventional freezers, unlike the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine which must be stored at -70 degrees.
This makes it easier to vaccinate both on a large scale and in retirement homes.
The UK, the first Western country to authorize distribution of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine in early December, expects this second vaccine to gain momentum and the number of cases attributed to a new variant of the coronavirus will hit its bottom. stop.
“For now, we believe the vaccine should remain effective” against the new variant, Soriot said. “But we’re not sure, so we’re going to test it.”
He assured that new versions were being prepared just in case, hoping not to need them: “You have to be prepared”.
The UK government announced on Wednesday that it had submitted complete data on the Oxford University / AstraZeneca vaccine to the UK regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
According to the British press, the MHRA must make a decision in the coming days with a view to injecting the vaccine from January 4.
The UK has ordered 100 million doses of Oxford University / AstraZeneca vaccine, of which 40 million doses will be available by the end of March.
In total, the UK government has secured access to more than 350 million doses by the end of next year by sourcing from seven manufacturers during the clinical trial phase.
In total, more than 600,000 people have already received a first dose of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine.
The success of the current campaign in the UK is all the more important as the country, one of the most affected by the pandemic with more than 70,000 deaths, is seeing a resurgence of the virus.
Authorities have attributed this resurgence to a mutation that, according to a UK study, is 50 percent to 74 percent more contagious and has resulted in more than 40 countries closing their borders to British travelers.