With FDA backing, AZD1222 trials now resumed globally; J&J vaccine study also restarted

Clinical trials for AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN) and Oxford University’COVID-19 vaccine, AZD1222, have resumed across the world with regulators in the USA, UK, Brazil, South Africa and Japan confirming that it was safe to do so.

Moving at a slower pace than other regulators which have already approved resumption of the AZD1222 studies, the Food and Drug Administration on Friday authorized the restart in the USA, following the resumption of trials in other countries in recent weeks. The FDA reviewed all safety data from trials globally and concluded it was safe to resume the trial.

As part of the standard review process for trial safety events, a voluntary pause to vaccination across all global trials was triggered on September 6 to allow the examination of safety data by independent monitoring committees. The recommendations from these reviews have been supported by international regulators, who also confirmed that the trials were safe to resume.