The race is on to find a vaccine for Covid-19, so when will one be ready? Video / AP
The boss of the drug firm developing the United Kingdom's leading coronavirus vaccine candidate has insisted researchers are "on track" to submit final data by the end of the year, despite the study being halted after a volunteer suffered a rare neurological condition.
The phase three trial of the vaccine being developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca - widely regarded as one of the global frontrunners in the race to develop an effective inoculation - was suspended on Wednesday after it emerged that one female British participant was being treated for suspected transverse myelitis, a serious condition that affects the nervous system. However, the exact diagnosis is still unclear and medical tests are ongoing.
Pascal Soriot, chief executive of AstraZeneca, told an online briefing organised by Tortoise Media that an independent safety committee was currently reviewing data on the adverse event.
"Of course it depends on the outcome of this review but if the safety committee allows us to restart the trial we are on track to have a set of data we can submit to regulators before the end of the year," he said.
AstraZeneca says if the safety committee allows the trial to resume, it is on track to have a set of data with regulators before the end of the year. AP Photo / Alastair Grant, file
He could not say when the trial would restart but was hopeful that the vaccine could be ready for global distribution some time in the first half of next year.
He said it was very common for trials to be paused but the difference now is the "world was watching".
The phase three trial is being conducted in countries including the UK, Brazil and South Africa. It is unclear how many participants have so far been vaccinated although Soriot said that researchers hope to vaccinate 50 to 60,000 volunteers eventually.
Earlier this week a senior figure in a Chinese biotech claimed that hundreds of thousands of people had been given one of two experimental coronavirus vaccines in China without a single adverse event or infection.
The race to produce a vaccine is unfolding at breakneck speed with eight candidates now in phase three trials.
There have been concerns about vaccines being rushed through, with US officials being told to prepare to distribute a vaccine before presidential elections in November.
Soriot insisted that safety was paramount but said speed and safety could go hand in hand.
"One thing you cannot compromise is safety and that's why we have robust processes in place," he said.
"Usually when a pharmaceutical company works on a new vaccine or medicine they accumulate data and submit a package to the regulators. They then take some time to review. But we are doing this in parallel and talking to the regulators on a regular basis."
AstraZeneca has already begun manufacturing the vaccine and is in talks with firms around the world to ensure there is enough supply and fair and equitable distribution among richer and poorer countries. He said the company was close to having the capacity to develop three billion doses.
The jab is considered a front runner not only because it has been developed rapidly, but because it is keenly priced and relatively easy to manufacture. This means it could be widely distributed across the globe - the key to stopping the pandemic.
A lab technician at the mAbxience biopharmaceutical company in Garin, Argentina, which will make a vaccine developed by Oxford and AstraZeneca. AP Photo / Natacha Pisarenko
"We are scaling up rapidly and we will be able to supply all regions at the same time," said Soriot.
He acknowledged that manufacturing the vaccine when it had not yet been approved was a risk.
"But when you see the impact of this disease on the world, a few $100m wasted is worth the financial risk."
