▲ A new coronavirus infection (Corona 19) vaccine from AstraZeneca, a British pharmaceutical company. Reuters Yonhap News
AstraZeneca, a British pharmaceutical company, announced the results of the preventive effect reflecting the latest clinical trial data of a novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19) vaccine.
According to Bloomberg News on the 24th (local time), AstraZeneca revealed that the prevention effect was 76% as a result of analysis of the latest data from a phase 3 clinical trial conducted in the United States. This is a 3 percentage point decrease from 79% of the preventive effect disclosed on the 22nd.
It was revealed that the effect of preventing severe aggravation was the same as 100% previously suggested. The preventive effect over the age of 65 was 85%, which was higher than the announcement on the 22nd (80%).
AstraZeneca announced on the 22nd that it showed 79% of the preventive effects as a result of a phase 3 clinical trial involving 32,400 people in the United States, Chile and Peru.
However, after the announcement, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) raised suspicion that AstraZeneca’s analysis data contained outdated data.
NIAID said, “The Data and Safety Monitoring Committee (DSMB) expressed concern because the clinical trial data released by AstraZeneca contained out-of-date information,” and urged that “the latest data should be released as soon as possible.”
The Washington Post (WP) also reported that DSMB expressed concern over the announcement of AstraZeneca, saying that if the data were included by March, the vaccine effect was 69-74%.
In response, AstraZeneca said in a press release on the 23rd, “The results of the clinical trials released on the previous day were based on the preliminary analysis of the data up to February 17th.” We will release the latest data within 48 hours.” Subsequently, the results were revealed on this day.
As a result of the analysis reflecting the latest data, the prevention effect was slightly reduced, but an analysis suggests that the possibility of obtaining approval for emergency use by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has increased.
William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt School of Medicine, said, “The AstraZeneca vaccine has the same level of prevention of seriousness and death as other pharmaceutical companies’ vaccines.”