AstraZeneca’s Vaccine Produced Immune Responses in Older Patients

AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate, AZD1222, elicited immune responses in older coronavirus patients similar to ones generated in younger adults, lending more promise to a vaccine that’s seen as one of the leading contenders in the race to become the first approved COVID-19 vaccine.

The UK drugmaker said on Monday that interim safety and immunogenicity data from the University of Oxford’s phase 2 COV002 trial showed the vaccine candidate produced immune responses in adults older than 55 and caused fewer adverse events in elderly patients. The results are being submitted to a peer-review journal for publication, the company said.

“It is encouraging to see immunogenicity responses were similar between older and younger adults and that reactogenicity was lower in older adults, where the COVID-19 disease severity is higher,” an AstraZeneca (AZ) spokesperson said. “The results further build the body of evidence for the safety and immunogenicity of AZD1222.”

The newly announced findings are encouraging, given that elderly patients comprise the most vulnerable population and would likely be among the first in line to be vaccinated once a product receives an Emergency Use Authorization or full biologics license application approval.

AZ CEO Pascal Soriot said last week that the company will likely have trial results ready “later this year,” though that timeline will depend in part on the rate of coronavirus infections in the areas where the trials are being conducted.

The drugmaker last week resumed its phase 3 vaccine trials in the U.S. after being delayed by a safety event investigation for more than a month. The FDA evaluation determined that the vaccine did not cause the adverse events and cleared the trial to start back up, though the conclusion didn’t definitively rule out the vaccine as the cause, according to reports (DID, Oct. 26). — James Miessler