Covid-19: Oxford University vaccine study moves to next phases of trials

PanARMENIAN.Net - An Oxford University coronavirus vaccine study is ready to begin its next phase, entering human trials involving 10,260 participants, the university said in a statement, according to CNN.

The Oxford University research team is partnering with UK-based global biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca to develop and manufacture the potential vaccine on a large scale.

It completed phase 1 of the trial, with more than 1,000 immunizations, the statement said. Phase 2 will now expand the age range of participants receiving the trial vaccine, to include older adults and children.

Next, phase 3 will assess how the vaccine works in a large number of people over the age of 18.

Professor Andrew Pollard, head of the Oxford Vaccine Group, said the studies "are progressing very well," and said the next phases will "test whether it can provide protection in the wider population."

It was reported earlier that AstraZeneca had announced an agreement for at least 400 million doses of the potential vaccine.

The company received over "$1 billion from the US Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) for the development, production and delivery of the vaccine, starting in the fall," according to a statement from AstraZeneca.