Ailments in Covid-19 Trials Raise Questions About Vaccine Method
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-10-17/ailments-in-covid-19-trials-raise-questions-about-vaccine-method
Two Covid-19 vaccines stalled by potential side effects have one key feature in common: Both are based on adenoviruses, cold germs that researchers have used in experimental therapies for decades with varying results.
Johnson & Johnson said late Monday it would pause its trial to investigate an illness, which it didnt specify, in a study participant. Meanwhile, AstraZeneca Plcs U.S. trial of the vaccine its developing with the University of Oxford has been halted by regulators for more than a month after neurological symptoms arose in two volunteers.
With AstraZeneca in a pit stop, vaccines from Moderna Inc. and the Pfizer Inc.-BioNTech SE partnership have taken the lead in the race to be first out with a shot. Meanwhile, the two paused trials are reviving questions about adenoviral vectors, which have been used in laboratory, animal and human experiments for years. In some cases, the experiments have succeeded, but not always.
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