AstraZeneca U.S. Covid Vaccine Trial Expected to Resume

FDA is expected soon to remove a clinical hold on AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine trial after it completed its review of a serious illness in a study participant, according to a report from Reuters. The hold was imposed in September after the University of Oxford, AstraZeneca’s partner in the vaccine, had said a patient’s neurological problem was detected, but it was likely not related to the vaccine. Clinical trials had resumed in the UK, Brazil, and South Africa, while the hold remained in effect in the U.S.

Meanwhile, Brazilian regulatory authorities announced earlier this week that an AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine clinical trial participant had recently died. However, Bloomberg is reporting that the patient who died was not taking the active vaccine. A safety monitoring board suggested the trial should continue, Brazilian authorities said.