(Reuters) – AstraZeneca Plc is likely to run an additional global trial to assess the efficacy of its COVID-19 vaccine, according to the company’s Chief Executive Pascal Soriot, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday.
Instead of adding the trial arm to an ongoing U.S. process, a new trial would be run to evaluate a lower dosage that performed better than a full amount in AstraZeneca’s studies, the report said https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-11-26/astra-likely-to-run-fresh-global-covid-vaccine-trial-ceo-says?sref=2h1zKciy.
AstraZeneca is facing tricky questions about its success rate that some experts say could hinder its chances of getting speedy U.S. and EU regulatory approval.
Several scientists have raised doubts about the robustness of results showing the shot was 90% effective in a sub-group of trial participants who, by error initially, received a half dose followed by a full dose.
(Reporting by Sabahatjahan Contractor in Bengaluru; Editing by Jan Harvey)