Vogon Today

Selected News from the Galaxy

StartMag

Astrazeneca, Moderna and Pfizer, here are the data on the effectiveness of anti Covid vaccines

Astrazeneca, Moderna and Pfizer, here are the data on the effectiveness of anti Covid vaccines

After Pfizer and Moderna, Astrazeneca also communicated the first data on the effectiveness of the anti Covid vaccine (but the percentage is lower than the other two competitors)

Time for announcements also for Astrazeneca, after Pfizer and Moderna. The Covid vaccine produced by the company, and developed by the University of Oxford and its spin-out company, Vaccitech, in collaboration with Italy's Irbm, met the primary efficacy endpoint, with an average of 70%.

A percentage lower than that of Pfizer and Moderna ads, which were 95% effective.

Let's go step by step.

TWO DOSES, TWO PERCENTAGES OF EFFECTIVENESS FOR THE ASTRAZENECA VACCINE

According to the first data from the vaccine trials in Great Britain, the Astrazeneca vaccine has an average efficacy of 70%.

"One dosing regimen (n = 2,741) showed vaccine efficacy of 90% when AZD1222 was administered 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 administered as two full doses at least one month apart. The combined analysis of both dosing regimens (n ​​= 11,636) produced an average efficacy of 70% ", explains the company , announcing that" there were a total of 131 COVID-19 cases in the interim analysis. ".

PRIMARY ENDPOINT REACHED

A data safety monitoring committee – third to the company – verified that the analysis met its primary endpoint, with protection from Covid-19 occurring 14 days or more after receiving two doses of the vaccine .

The pooled analysis includes data from single-blind, phase II / III Cov002 studies in the UK and phase III Cov003 studies in Brazil only.

THE VACCINE

Let's take a step back. The AZD1222 vaccine, developed by the University of Oxfors and Irbm , uses a replication-deficient chimpanzee viral vector based on a weakened version of a common cold virus, containing the genetic material of the SARS-Cov virus spike protein -2.

After vaccination, the surface spike protein is produced, which prepares the immune system to attack Covid-19 in case of infection.

EXPERIMENTATION STILL IN PROGRESS

Currently, the vaccine, which has not led to serious adverse reactions, is still being tested in the UK, Brazil, the US, Japan, Russia, South Africa, Kenya and Latin America. Trials scheduled also in Italy starting from December .

In total, the company plans to involve up to 60,000 participants globally in Phase III clinical trials. “Further data will continue to accumulate and further analyzes will be conducted, refining the reading of effectiveness and establishing the duration of protection,” explains Astrazeneca.

ANDREW POLLARD: READY TO SAVE MANY LIVES

“These results show that we have an effective vaccine that will save many lives. Interestingly, we found that one of our dosing regimens can be around 90% effective, and if this dosing regimen is used, more people could be vaccinated with a scheduled vaccine supply. Today's announcement is only possible thanks to the many volunteers participating in our trial and the talented and hard-working team of researchers based around the world, ” commented Professor Andrew Pollard , lead investigator of the Oxford Vaccine Trial.

TOWARDS EMERGENTIAL USE?

While waiting for the full analysis to be published in a peer-reviewed journal, Astrazeneca will try to get the green light for emergency use from the World Health Organization to accelerate vaccination in low-income countries.

PERCENTAGES LOWER THAN PFIZER

If it is true that the efficacy percentage of the Astrazeneca vaccine largely meets the efficacy threshold required by the authorities, it is also true that it is a lower number than that announced by the American competitors.

The mRNA-based vaccine candidate, BNT162b2, developed by the American Pfizer with the German BionTech has an efficacy of 95% (94% in the elderly) and did not present serious side effects, according to the first series of results. complete phase 3 trials. The clinical study involved 44,000 volunteers, half of whom received the vaccine. The other half received a water and salt placebo. On the whole group, 170 Covid-19 occurred, of which 162 were in the placebo group and 8 in the vaccinated group. Out of 10 cases of severe Covid-19, 9 had received placebo.

… .EA MODERN

The effectiveness results for Moderna were similar , again according to company announcements.

The Massachusetts-based American company announced in a statement that its Covid vaccine is 94.5% effective. In the COVE study, which enrolled 30,000 participants, 95 participants presented confirmed cases of COVID-19. Of these, 90 related to subjects who participated in the study and were part of the placebo group and 5 of the vaccine group. The study was conducted in collaboration with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

Moderna's, however, has an added advantage over Pfizer's. The two vaccines are based on mRna technology. Moderna announced a longer shelf life: the antidote is expected to remain stable at standard refrigeration temperatures between 2 ° and 8 ° C for 30 days. Long term storage is expected at standard freezer temperatures of -20 ° C for 6 months. Pfizer's vaccine needs to be stored at minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit. Pfizer will ship the vaccine in special boxes of 1,000 to 5,000 doses filled with dry ice and equipped with GPS-enabled sensors.


This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/sanita/astrazeneca-moderna-e-pfizer-tutti-i-dati-sullefficacia-dei-vaccini-anti-covid/ on Mon, 23 Nov 2020 10:21:31 +0000.