AstraZeneca Trial Participant Adverse Events Likely Unrelated To COVID-19 Vaccine: Oxford

AstraZeneca Plc’s AZN vaccine didn't likely cause the adverse events that suspended the late-stage human trials of the drug, according to Oxford University.

What Happened: Volunteers in the British drugmaker’s ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine trial developed unexplained neurological symptoms including changed sensation or weakness in limbs, according to a participant information document published by Oxford, which is co-developing the vaccine with AstraZeneca.

“After independent review, these illnesses were either considered unlikely to be associated with the vaccine or there was insufficient evidence to say for certain that the illnesses were or were not related to the vaccine,” Oxford said, as first reported by Reuters.

Independent reviewers recommended the vaccinations should continue after reviewing each of these cases, according to the document.

Why It Matters: AstraZeneca has resumed trials of the vaccine in the United Kingdom, India, South Africa, and Brazil.

Trials haven't yet resumed in the United States. The Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn said that his agency is “going to do very significant work with the company to figure out if there’s a significant safety issue or not.”

Moderna Inc MRNA and Pfizer Inc PFE are the likely frontrunners in the race for the COVID-19 vaccine. 

Microsoft Corporation MSFT co-founder Bill Gates claimed Pfizer’s vaccine may get an emergency use license by the end of October, according to CNBC.

Price Action: AstraZeneca shares closed almost 0.3% lower at $55.13 on Wednesday and gained 0.13% in the after-hours session.