Oxford group has “winning vaccine formula”

The British pharmaceutical group AstraZeneca claimed to have found, after additional research, “the winning formula” for its vaccine against covid-19 developed with the University of Oxford, on which the British regulator must comment in the coming days. 

“We believe we have found the winning formula and how to achieve an efficacy that, with two doses, is as high as the others,” CEO Pascal Soriot stated in the Sunday Times, adding that his vaccine ensured “protection of 100%” against severe forms of covid-19.

In interim results from large-scale clinical trials in the UK and Brazil, the British laboratory announced in November that its vaccine had an average efficacy of 70% compared to more than 90% for those of Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna.

Behind this average result are large differences between two different protocols: efficacy is 90% for volunteers who received half the dose first, then a full dose a month later, but only 62% for another group vaccinated with two full doses. 

These results were criticized because there was an error in the half-dose injection, although a relatively small group had followed this protocol. The company later announced that its vaccine required “further study.” 

The Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine is eagerly awaited because it is relatively cheap and does not need to be stored as cold as Pfizer / BioNTech, for example, which must be kept at -70 degrees. 

This facilitates vaccination on a large scale and in geriatric homes. 

The UK was the first Western country to start injecting doses of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine in early December. Now it has this second Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine to gain momentum and end the increase in cases attributed to its territory by the new variant of the coronavirus.

Faced with this mutation, “we think for the moment that the vaccine should continue to be effective,” said Pascal Soriot. “But we can’t be sure, so we will do some tests.” 

He assured that new versions were prepared just in case, hoping that they will not need them: “You have to be prepared.”

The UK government said on Wednesday that it had submitted the full data for the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine to the UK regulator, the MHRA. According to the British press, the latter will have to make a pronouncement in the coming days, with the aim of injecting it from January 4.