COVID-19: AstraZeneca begins late-stage trials of vaccine with 6,000 participants

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca has begun late-stage trial for a potential coronavirus vaccine following a large investment from the US Government. According to an AstraZeneca press release, in the coming weeks, the company will begin two trials with 6,000 participants and have further plans to add 4,000 more in order to test the antibody medicine.

US invests more money in AztraZenec's potential vaccine 

US President Donald Trump and the First Lady Melania Trump recently tested positive for COVID-19. The US President has already recovered and is back working in the White House. After getting better Trump credited a similar form of therapy to the one AstraZeneca is testing as the reason for his quick recovery.

Following the President’s recovery, the US Government has decided to invest an additional $486 million into the British Pharmaceutical company in addition to the $25 million it already invested when the company’s potential COVID vaccine entered phase I trials. Through this deal, the US has already secured hundreds of thousands of doses of the experimental treatments by the end of 2020. There is also the option of the US acquiring one million more doses from the pharmaceutical company by 2021.

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Last month Canada also entered into a $800 Million deal with AstraZeneca and thereby secured 20 million doses of their potential COVID-19 vaccine. Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Friday, September 25 and will start receiving the doses once the vaccine has been tested safe. Canada now has tentative deals with 12 potential COVID-19 vaccine candidates. Canada’s deal with AstraZeneca does not allow for refunds, meaning that if AstraZeneca’s vaccine is never approved the country will still have to give the pharmaceutical company $800 million.

The COVID-19 pandemic which saw its first outbreak in a wet market in Wuhan, China last year has now spread all across the world. The virus, named COVID-19 by the World Health Organisation, has infected over 37 million people worldwide with the global death toll crossing 1,000,000. The US has reported more than 7.7 million positive COVID-19 cases and a death toll of over 210,000.

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