Oxford scientist set for £15m payday in Vaccitech flotation April 8, 2021 Professor Sarah Gilbert, the Oxford scientist behind Astrazeneca’s coronavirus jab, is set to land a payday of as much as $20m (£15m) as her vaccine start-up prepares for its stock market debut. Gilbert is understood to be sitting on millions of dollars worth of shares in biotech firm Vaccitech, which is expected to list in [...]
EU medicines regulator finds ‘possible link’ between Astrazeneca vaccine and very rare blood clots April 7, 2021 The EU’s medicines regulator has found a “possible link” between the Astrazeneca vaccine and rare blood clots, but said the benefits of receiving the vaccine outweigh potential risks. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) this afternoon published its review into the vaccine, which found that “unusual blood clots with low blood platelets should be listed as [...]
FTSE 100 jumps on post-lockdown hopes but Wall Street flat April 6, 2021 London’s FTSE 100 climbed by 1.4 per cent today as prospects of a planned re-emergence from lockdown next week boosted shares. The capital’s premier index currently stands at 6,840, its highest levels since 11 January. Across the Atlantic, however, the mood was more subdued, with Wall Street’s main markets flat at the open this afternoon. [...]
UK reports seven blood clot deaths after Astrazeneca vaccine April 3, 2021 Seven people in the UK have died from blood clots after taking Astrazeneca’s Covid vaccine, Britain’s medicines regulator has confirmed. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said it received reports of 30 unusual blood clotting events among patients who have received the Astrazeneca jab, of which seven have died. It is still unclear [...]
EU seeks 10m Astrazeneca vaccines from India to plug jab shortfall April 1, 2021 The EU has asked India to supply 10m doses of Astrazeneca’s Covid vaccine, as the bloc scrambles to plug a shortfall in jab supplies. EU officials have approached the Serum Institute of India — the world’s largest vaccine maker — to ship doses of the Covid jab, according to Reuters. It marks the latest signal that [...]
Kent Covid variant ‘no more deadly’ than original coronavirus strain March 31, 2021 The Kent Covid variant, which is now the UK’s dominant version of coronavirus, is no more deadly than the original strain, research by Public Health England (PHE) has found. A PHE study matched 2,800 cases of the B117 variant first identified in Kent against the original Covid strain and found there was no significant difference in [...]
Astra Zeneca revises US vaccine trial results after claims of outdated data March 25, 2021 AstraZeneca has confirmed its Covid-19 vaccine as 76 per cent effective after a new US trial, which showed it to be only three per cent lower than previously reported. US health officials criticised interim data published on Monday, which showed the vaccine efficacy rate to be at 79 per cent, but was not the most [...]
Going Dutch: Downing Street refuses to rule out sharing Astrazeneca vaccines with EU March 23, 2021 Downing Street has refused to rule out sharing British supplies of the Astrazeneca vaccine made in the Netherlands with the EU to avert an exports ban from the bloc. Asked whether the UK would be willing to offer some of the Dutch-made jabs to Europe, the Prime Minister’s official spokesperson said Boris Johnson has “set [...]
US trials show Astrazeneca vaccine safe from blood clot risk and highly effective March 22, 2021 The Astrazeneca Covid-19 vaccine made with Oxford University was 79 per cent effective in a large US trial at preventing symptomatic illness, and was 100 per cent effective against severe or critical disease and hospitalisation, the FTSE-listed drugmaker said this morning. The positive data comes after many countries resuming use of the vaccine after the European [...]
France, Spain, Italy and Germany to resume Astrazeneca vaccinations after EU regulator rules jab is ‘safe and effective’ March 18, 2021 France, Spain, Italy and Germany are among the European countries that have confirmed they will resume rolling out the Astrazeneca vaccine after the EU medicines regulator said there is “clear scientific” evidence that the jab is both “safe and effective”. Emer Cooke, executive director of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), earlier today said the agency remains [...]