AstraZeneca Trials Trigger Disease, Widespread Impact and Becomes Bad News for Global Vaccine Progress

Ilustrasi foto (Sumber: Antara)

JAKARTA - The developer of the COVID-19 vaccine, AstraZeneca Plc, announced the temporary suspension of the final stage trials. It was because they experienced the security problems in the final stages of the trial.

Quoted from Antara, Wednesday, September 9, the company spokesperson, Michele Meixell, said that this one of the leading COVID-19 vaccine candidates caused the emergence of a disease in one of the participants. The company refused to explain the details of the disease.

"Our standard review process is activated. We voluntarily stop. So the independent committee could review the safety data," Meixell said in an emailed statement.

The study tested a COVID-19 vaccine that is being developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University researchers in various places, including the UK. There is no specific explanation on when and how did it happen. However, the statement also contained hope that the participant will recover. 

Stat News became the first website to report the suspension of the trial due to "suspected serious adverse reactions." The US Food and Drug Administration called it an adverse event, with evidence that was suggesting a possible link to the tested drug.

Broad Impact

The trial suspension of problematic vaccine candidates has an impact on other AstraZeneca vaccine trials. Stat News also said that this incident affected other vaccine manufacturers. Some have even reportedly been looking for signs of a similar reaction.

The US National Institute of Health, which provides funding for the AstraZeneca trials, declined to comment. AstraZeneca's statement said that "in large trials, the disease will occur by chance but must be reviewed independently for careful examination."

From the economic sector, AstraZeneca shares are reported to have fallen more than eight percent in the US trading index. Meanwhile, shares of competing vaccine developers rose. Moderna Inc rose more than four percent. Others, Pfizer Inc. rose less than one percent.

Moderna, in an emailed statement, said it was "not aware of any impact" on the current COVID-19 vaccine studies. Nine of the leading US and European vaccine developers pledged to uphold scientific safety and efficacy standards for their experimental vaccines, despite the urgency of the pandemic.

These companies, including AstraZeneca, Moderna, and Pfizer issued "historic promises" after concerns emerged that safety standards might slip. Political pressure to get vaccines as soon as possible influences the setting and monitoring of safety standards to a large extent.

The companies said that they would "uphold the integrity of the scientific process as they work toward the potential for filing global regulations and approval of the first COVID-19 vaccine." Other signatories were Johnson & Johnson, Merck & Co, GlaxoSmithKline, Novavax Inc, Sanofi, and BioNTech.