AstraZeneca, Oxford say virus vaccine shows 70% efficacy

British drugs group AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford on Nov. 23 said their jointly-developed vaccine against COVID-19 has shown "an average efficacy of 70 percent" in trials.

"This vaccine's efficacy and safety confirm that it will be highly effective against COVID-19 and will have an immediate impact on this public health emergency," AstraZeneca chief executive Pascal Soriot said in a statement.

The results ranged between 62 and 90 percent efficacy depending on the vaccine dosage.

The 70-percent average is lower compared with the efficacy of coronavirus vaccines trialed by rivals Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna which have come in above 90 percent.

Nov. 23's statement said "positive high-level results from an interim analysis of clinical trials of AZD1222 in the UK and Brazil showed the vaccine was highly effective in preventing COVID-19... and no hospitalisations or severe cases of the disease were reported in participants."

It added: "One dosing regimen (n=2,741) showed vaccine efficacy of 90 percent when AZD1222 was given as a half dose, followed by a full dose at least one month apart."

The pair said that regimen n=8,895 showed 62 percent efficacy when given as two full doses at least one month apart.

"The combined analysis from both dosing regimens (n=11,636) resulted in an average efficacy of 70 percent."
AstraZeneca said it would "immediately prepare regulatory submission of the data to authorities around the world that have a framework in place for conditional or early approval".

It added that it would seek emergency-use listing from the World Health Organization to accelerate vaccine availability in low-income countries.

AstraZeneca said it is looking at a capacity of up to three...