AstraZeneca says its COVID-19 vaccine has an efficacy of 70% on average

In an announcement on Monday, AstraZeneca plc (LON: AZN) said that interim results from its late-stage clinical trials suggest that its candidate COVID-19 vaccine is effective in 70% of the patients on average. The news came only weeks after Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna reported nearly 95% efficacy for their respective Coronavirus vaccines, as per the preliminary results.

AstraZeneca shares slipped roughly 2% on market open on Monday. Including the price action, the Swedish-British multinational is now exchanging hands at £81.82 per share. In comparison, it had a per-share price of £62.21 in March, when the impact of the COVID-19 crisis was at its peak. If you want to invest in the stock market online, you’ll need a reliable stockbroker – here’s a list of the top few to make selection easier for you.

AstraZeneca tested its vaccine in two different dosing regimens

According to experts, global availability of the COVID-19 vaccine is an important milestone to hit in the mankind’s war against the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic that has so far infected more than 59 million people worldwide and caused a little under 1.4 million deaths.

AstraZeneca collaborated with Oxford University to develop its COVID-19 vaccine – that was given to patients in two different dosing regimens and analysed separately for effectiveness. Patients that were given half a dose initially and then a full dose after a minimum of one month, showed the vaccine to be 90% effective.

On the other hand, those that received a full dose followed by another full dose after at least a month, showed it to be 62% effective.

Professor Andrew Pollard’s comments on Monday

Chief investigator of the trial, Professor Andrew Pollard commented on the news on Monday and said:

“These findings show that we have an effective vaccine that will save many lives. Excitingly, we’ve found that one of our dosing regimes may be around 90%effective and if this dosing regime is used, more people could be vaccinated with planned vaccine supply.”

The interim analysis, as per AstraZeneca, assessed 131 cases of COVID-19 in total.

AstraZeneca published its quarterly financial results earlier this month that highlighted a more than 100% growth in its Q3 net profit.

The Cambridge-headquartered company performed fairly upbeat in the stock market last year with an annual gain of over 25%. At the time of writing, it is valued at £107.42 billion and has a price to earnings ratio of 57.08.