AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine candidate, which it is developing together with Oxford University, induced a strong immune response in older adults, data released by The Lancet medical journal showed.
Findings of the Phase 2 clinical study disclosed that the AstraZeneca-Oxford (AZN) vaccine candidate produced a specific antibody response to the SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein at 28 days after a single dose across all age groups, including adults aged 70 years and older. In addition, the chimpanzee adenovirus-vectored vaccine appears to be better tolerated in older adults than in younger adults and has similar immunogenicity across all age groups after a boost dose, the study concluded.
“These findings are encouraging because older individuals are at disproportionate risk of severe COVID-19 and so any vaccine adopted for use against SARS-CoV-2 must be effective in older adults,” it was stated in the released data. “We found similar safety and immunogenicity of ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 in older adults compared with younger adults, which could support the use of this vaccine in this older age group, if it is shown to be protective in Phase 3 trials.”
The Phase 3 studies with ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 are ongoing in the UK, Brazil, and the US to assess the vaccine’s efficacy and safety.
The Phase 2 trial was conducted between May 30 and Aug 8, and involved a total of 560 participants, of which, 160 participants were aged 18–55 years, 160 were aged 56–69 years, and 240 were aged 70 years and older.
AZN shares are down almost 7% over the past five days, taking this year’s advance to 8.3%. (See AstraZeneca stock analysis on TipRanks). That’s with a Strong Buy analyst consensus backed by 2 unanimous Buy ratings.
Meanwhile, the average analyst price target stands at $63, which puts the upside potential at about 17% in the coming 12 months.
CFRA analyst Wan Nurhayati recently reiterated a Buy rating on the stock with a $61 price target as she believes that the company’s new medicines will help grow revenue in the high single-digit percentage range in 2020.
Nurhayati doesn’t expect AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate to be a major profit driver, as the drugmaker is prioritizing affordable distribution.
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