Trials of Oxford University’s potential coronavirus vaccine could resume within days after being paused for an urgent investigation into possible adverse side-effects.
It is understood that Astrazeneca, the British drugmaker working with Oxford, halted new enrolment on trials after a British volunteer showed symptoms of transverse myelitis (TM), a rare inflammatory condition that affects the spinal cord.
Stat, the health industry website which first reported the hiatus, said that a woman was suspected to have TM but the diagnosis was not confirmed, and she was on course to be discharged from hospital as early as last night.
Pascal Soriot, the chief executive of Astrazeneca, described the measure as a “temporary pause” and said that an independent committee of experts would investigate.
A company spokesman added:
