Coronavirus: AstraZeneca says interim analysis shows COVID-19 vaccine 70% effective on average

LONDON — British drugmaker AstraZeneca said an interim analysis has revealed that its COVID-19 vaccine was, on average, 70% effective in its clinical trial.

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According to The Associated Press, the company, which is manufacturing vaccine candidate AZD1222 developed by Oxford University, announced the update in a news release early Monday.

“Positive high-level results from an interim analysis of clinical trials of AZD1222 in the U.K. and Brazil showed the vaccine was highly effective in preventing COVID-19, the primary endpoint, and no hospitalizations or severe cases of the disease were reported in participants receiving the vaccine,” the release said.

AstraZeneca said the study analyzed 131 cases among more than 23,000 participants and tracked the efficacy of two dosing regimens.

“One dosing regimen (n=2,741) showed vaccine efficacy of 90% when AZD1222 was given as a half dose, followed by a full dose at least one month apart, and another dosing regimen (n=8,895) showed 62% efficacy when given as two full doses at least one month apart,” the news release said. “The combined analysis from both dosing regimens (n=11,636) resulted in an average efficacy of 70%.”

The company added that it will “immediately prepare regulatory submission of the data to authorities around the world that have a framework in place for conditional or early approval,” as well as seek an emergency use listing from the World Health Organization.

“In parallel, the full analysis of the interim results is being submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal,” the release said.

The news came days after a different drugmaker, Pfizer, submitted an emergency use authorization request to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its COVID-19 vaccine. The company, along with partner BioNTech, said a final analysis revealed that their vaccine candidate was 95% effective in a clinical trial, according to a news release. Additionally, last week, biotech company Moderna said an early analysis showed that its vaccine was 94.5% effective.

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