AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 Vaccine Trial Paused after Unexplained Illness

FILE PHOTO: A general view of AstraZeneca's Sydney headquarters, in Sydney, Australia, August 19, 2020. AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts via REUTERS
FILE PHOTO: A general view of AstraZeneca's Sydney headquarters, in Sydney, Australia, August 19, 2020. AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts via REUTERS
TT
20

AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 Vaccine Trial Paused after Unexplained Illness

FILE PHOTO: A general view of AstraZeneca's Sydney headquarters, in Sydney, Australia, August 19, 2020. AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts via REUTERS
FILE PHOTO: A general view of AstraZeneca's Sydney headquarters, in Sydney, Australia, August 19, 2020. AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts via REUTERS

Clinical trials on one of the most advanced experimental Covid-19 vaccines, which is being developed by pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca and Oxford University, were "paused" Tuesday after a volunteer developed an unexplained illness.

With billions of people around the world still suffering with the fallout of the pandemic and the global death toll nearing 900,000, a worldwide race for a vaccine is underway, with nine companies already in late-stage Phase 3 trials.

Worldwide infections to date now stand at more than 27 million, and more than 890,000 people have died from the disease.

Russia has already approved a vaccine, and research published in The Lancet medical journal last week said patients involved in early tests developed antibodies with "no serious adverse events", although scientists cautioned the trials were too small.

A spokesperson for the AstraZeneca vaccine said in a statement "we voluntarily paused vaccination to allow review of safety data by an independent committee".

"This is a routine action which has to happen whenever there is a potentially unexplained illness in one of the trials, while it is investigated, ensuring we maintain the integrity of the trials."

The company said that in large-scale trials, illnesses will sometimes happen by chance, but must be reviewed independently.

AstraZeneca did not offer further details, but David Lo, a professor of biomedical sciences at the University of California, Riverside, told AFP the pause may not necessarily be a setback.

"Probably right now it's just being cautious -- it's a pause, it's not the same thing as saying, 'We can't move forward'," said Lo.

"In some ways I'm quite relieved, it means they're really paying attention."

The volunteer may have experienced an adverse reaction already seen in earlier patients such as fever and soreness, but in a more severe form, Lo added.

Britain's Health Secretary Matt Hancock also said that the pause was a challenge but would not necessarily set back efforts to develop a vaccine.

"It is obviously a challenge to this particular vaccine trial," Hancock said on Sky News when asked about the pause in the trial. "It's not actually the first time this has happened to the Oxford vaccine."

Asked whether it would set back the vaccine development process, he said: "Not necessarily, it depends on what they find when they do the investigation."

The trial's suspension triggered a 2% fall in AstraZeneca's shares in London and a 12% drop in the stock price of its Indian unit, AstraZeneca Pharma India Ltd. AstraZeneca shares, which have the second biggest weighting in the FTSE 100 index, were down 0.3% at 0820 GMT.



Iran Hangs Three More Accused of Spying for Israel

The life of Ahmadreza Djalali is at imminent risk, he wife said - AFP
The life of Ahmadreza Djalali is at imminent risk, he wife said - AFP
TT
20

Iran Hangs Three More Accused of Spying for Israel

The life of Ahmadreza Djalali is at imminent risk, he wife said - AFP
The life of Ahmadreza Djalali is at imminent risk, he wife said - AFP

Iran on Wednesday hanged three men convicted of spying for Israel after what activists decried as an unfair trial, bringing to six the number of people executed on such charges since the start of the war between the Islamic republic and Israel.

The hangings have also amplified fears for the life of Swedish-Iranian dual national Ahmadreza Djalali who has been on death row for seven-and-a-half years after being convicted of spying for Israel which his family vehemently denies.

The executions also bring to nine the number of people executed by Iran on espionage charges since the start of 2025, with activists accusing Tehran of using capital punishment as a means to instil fear in society.

Idris Ali, Rasoul Ahmad Rasoul and Azad Shojai were executed earlier Wednesday in the northwestern city of Urmia, the judiciary said, the day after a truce between the Islamic republic and Israel came into effect, AFP reported.

They had "attempted to import equipment into the country to carry out assassinations," it added.

Iran had executed three other men accused of spying for Israel since the start of the conflict on June 13, in separate hangings on June 16, June 22 and June 23.

"The Islamic Republic sentenced Idris Ali, Rasoul Ahmad Rasoul, and Azad Shojai to death without a fair trial and based on confessions obtained under torture, accusing them of espionage," Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, director of Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR), told AFP.

He said Ali and Shojai were two border porters -- known locally as kolbar -- who carry goods over the border.

"They were arrested on charges of smuggling alcoholic beverages but were forced to confess to espionage for Israel," he said. Ali and Shojai were members of Iran's Kurdish minority while Rasoul, while also Kurdish, was an Iraqi national.

- 'Imminent risk' -

He warned that in the coming weeks the lives of "hundreds" more prisoners sentenced to death were at risk. "After the ceasefire with Israel, the Islamic republic needs more repression to cover up military failures, prevent protests, and ensure its continued survival."

Djalali was arrested in 2016 and sentenced to death in October 2017 on charges of spying following what Amnesty International has termed "a grossly unfair trial" based on "'forced confessions' made under torture and other ill-treatment."

Long held in Tehran's Evin prison, which was hit by an Israeli strike on Monday before the truce, he has now been transferred to an unknown location, raising fears that his execution could be imminent, his family and government said.

"He called me and said, 'They're going to transfer me.' I asked where, and he said, 'I don't know,'" his wife Vida Mehrannia told AFP.

"Is it because they want to carry out the sentence? Or for some other reason? I don't know," she said, adding that she was "very worried" following the latest executions.

The Swedish foreign ministry said it had received information that he has been moved to an "unknown location" and warned there would be "serious consequences" for Sweden's relationship with Iran were he to be executed.

Amnesty International said Tuesday it was "gravely concerned" that he "is at imminent risk of execution".

- 'Grossly unfair trials' -

Rights groups say defendants in espionage cases are often convicted under vaguely-worded charges which are capital crimes under Iran's sharia law including "enmity against god" and "corruption on earth".

Analysts say that Israel's intelligence service Mossad has deeply penetrated Iran, as shown by its ability to locate and kill key members of the Iranian security forces in the conflict. But rights groups say that those executed are used as scapegoats to make up for Iran's failure to catch the actual spies.

Iran's judiciary chief, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei had ordered swift trials against people suspected of collaborating with Israel with rights groups saying dozens of people have been arrested since the conflict started.

"A rush to execute people after torture-tainted 'confessions' and grossly unfair trials would be a horrifying abuse of power and a blatant assault on the right to life," said Hussein Baoumi, deputy regional director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International.

According to IHR, Iran has executed 594 people on all charges this year alone.