Lancet editor creates buzz with coronavirus vaccine tweet

Medical journal The Lancet’s chief editor has dropped a tweet that appears to confirm the speculation that Phase-1 clinical trial results of the Covid-19 vaccine developed by scientists at the Oxford University will be published on Monday.

The Oxford vaccine candidate is believed to be leading the race among over 100 such candidates to find an effective protection against the deadly disease.

“Tomorrow. Vaccines. Just saying,” Richard Horton, Editor-in-Chief of The Lancet, said in a tweet on Sunday.

According to a report in The Telegraph last week, the Oxford Covid-19 vaccine generated an immune response against the disease in Phase-1 trial. The vaccine has been developed at the University of Oxford’s Jenner Institute.

Oxford in April had announced an agreement with the UK-based global biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca for the further development, large-scale manufacture and potential distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine candidate.

Robert Peston, a journalist at British broadcaster ITV, earlier reported that The Lancet was due to publish clinical data on the vaccine.

While the Phase-1 trial of the vaccine candidate began in April itself, the Phase 2/Phase 3 UK trial of the Oxford vaccine, named AZD1222, in about 10,000 adult volunteers was announced in May.

However, the results of the Phase 1 trial are still awaited.

–IANS