AstraZeneca withdraws COVID-19 vaccine: The pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine is being withdrawn worldwide after the company acknowledged for the first time in court documents that it can cause a rare and dangerous side effect.
AstraZeneca withdraws COVID-19 vaccine: The pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine is being withdrawn worldwide after the company acknowledged for the first time in court documents that it can cause a rare and dangerous side effect, according to a report in the British Newspaper ‘The Telegraph’, an ANI report read.
AstraZeneca has announced that the vaccine was being removed from markets for commercial reasons. It further said that the vaccine was no longer being made or supplied, having been superseded by updated vaccines that fight new variants.
The application to withdraw the vaccine was made on March 5 and came into effect on May 7. The vaccine can be no longer used in the European Union following the company’s decision to withdraw its “marketing authorisation.”
Similar applications will be submitted in the UK and other nations in the coming months that have given a go-ahead to the vaccine, known as Vaxzevria.
In recent months, Vaxzevria has come under scrutiny over a very rare side effect, which causes blood clots and low blood platelet counts. In court documents, AstraZeneca in the High Court in February admitted that the vaccine “can, in very rare cases, cause TTS”.
TTS which stands for Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome has been associated with at least 81 deaths in the UK and hundreds of serious injuries. More than 50 alleged victims and grieving relatives have filed a lawsuit against AstraZeneca in a High Court case.
AstraZeneca has insisted that the decision to withdraw the vaccine is not related to the case or admission that it can cause TTS and termed the timing a pure coincidence, according to The Telegraph report.
“We are incredibly proud of the role Vaxzevria played in ending the global pandemic. According to independent estimates, over 6.5 million lives were saved in the first year of use alone and over three billion doses were supplied globally. Our efforts have been recognised by governments around the world and are widely regarded as being a critical component of ending the global pandemic,” The Telegraph quoted AstraZeneca as saying.
In a statement, the pharmaceutical giant said, “As multiple, variant Covid-19 vaccines have since been developed, there is a surplus of available updated vaccines”, adding that it has led to a decline in demand for Vaxzevria, which is no longer being manufactured or supplied, The Telegraph reported.
It further announced its decision to initiate the withdrawal of the marketing authorisations for Vaxzevria within Europe. The company said, “We will now work with regulators and our partners to align on a clear path forward to conclude this chapter and significant contribution to the Covid-19 pandemic.”
Last week, AstraZeneca reiterated its commitment to patient safety while emphasising the vaccine’s overall safety profile.
An AstraZeneca spokesperson had stated, “Our sympathy goes out to anyone who has lost loved ones or reported health problems. Patient safety is our highest priority, and regulatory authorities have clear and stringent standards to ensure the safe use of all medicines, including vaccines.”
This comes in the wake of a recent admission by AstraZeneca, the pharmaceutical company, that its Covid vaccine Covishield and Vaxzevria “can, in very rare cases, cause Thrombosis Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS).”
Despite these rare occurrences, the pharmaceutical company maintained that extensive clinical trial data and real-world evidence consistently support the vaccine’s safety and efficacy. Regulatory agencies worldwide continue to assert that the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks of such extremely rare side effects.
News
New injectable treatment helps the brain rebuild after stroke
Biomedical engineers at Duke University have created an injectable biomaterial that may help the brain recover from damage left behind by an ischemic stroke. In experiments with mice, the material transformed the cavity created [...]
Scientists Discover a Hidden “Immune Organ” Inside the Skull
Researchers discovered lymph node-like immune hubs inside skull bone marrow that appear to act as rapid-response centers for the brain. For decades, the brain was thought to operate largely apart from the immune system. [...]
Engineered tRNAs and lipid nanoparticles target nonsense mutation cystic fibrosis
Researchers have developed a potential new approach for treating a form of cystic fibrosis caused by so-called nonsense mutations, combining chemically modified transfer RNAs with lipid nanoparticles designed to deliver the therapy directly to [...]
New pancreatic cancer drug carries a $39,800 monthly list price
A groundbreaking treatment for one of the most common forms of pancreatic cancer has been approved in pill form by the FDA. Revolution Medicines’ oral tablet daraxonrasib, branded as Rasonque, reduced the risk of [...]
Researchers Have Discovered a New Way To Reduce Chronic Nerve Pain
A cancer-linked protein called BRAF may help drive chronic nerve pain, and existing cancer drugs targeting it reduced pain sensitivity in preclinical models. Chronic nerve pain can persist long after an injury and often [...]
Our books now available worldwide!
Online Sellers other than Amazon, Routledge, and IOPP Indigo Global Health Care Equivalency in the Age of Nanotechnology, Nanomedicine and Artifcial Intelligence Global Health Care Equivalency In The Age Of Nanotechnology, Nanomedicine And Artificial [...]
Quantum-Enabled Regenerative Health: Reimagining Wellness, Precision Health and Longevity Medicine
Introduction Healthcare is approaching a frontier where the quantum portfolio could influence not only how disease is diagnosed and treated, but how health itself is measured, modeled, predicted and preserved. Quantum computing, quantum simulation, [...]
FDA Clears First-of-Its-Kind Nonmedication Treatment for PTSD
The FDA has cleared a system that uses brain activity data to personalize magnetic stimulation for PTSD, adding a new nonmedication treatment option. Every day in the United States, approximately 17.5 veterans die by suicide, [...]
FDA approves breakthrough drug to treat advanced pancreatic cancer
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved on Wednesday a drug that could extend the survival of those with metastatic pancreatic cancer. The drug, called daraxonrasib, will be sold under the brand name Rasonque [...]
AI Decodes a Hidden DNA Signal Linked to Disease-Causing Mutations
Machine learning identifies the likely “initiator” and enables new predictions about DNA mutations that can cause disease. Every human cell depends on tens of thousands of genes being switched on at the right time [...]
Pope Leo Urges Global Response to Congo’s Deadliest Ebola Outbreak
Pope Leo called for international action to address the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The epidemic has claimed over 2,500 lives and is the nation's largest recorded outbreak. The Pope emphasized [...]
Is there a summer COVID-19 surge this year? Yep, it’s ramping up again
Hantavirus. Ebola. West Nile. Measles. And, of course, cyclospora — that stomach parasite making people miserable across the country. Americans have plenty to worry about this summer. But remember COVID-19? It may not be [...]
Natural Compound in Broccoli Could Help Treat a Rare, Incurable Neurological Disease
Swinburne researchers have discovered how broccoli could help treat an extremely rare and incurable disease that affects only about 200 Australians. A naturally occurring compound in broccoli is being investigated as a possible treatment [...]
Antibody recycling, FcRn and the next generation of biologics
FcRn plays a central role in regulating the half-life of IgG antibodies and albumin, making it a critical target in both antibody engineering and autoimmune disease therapy. This article explores the biology of FcRn, [...]
Ebola kills 2,300 in three months with no vaccine available for Congo’s deadliest ever outbreak
It’s Congo’s 17th outbreak, with a toll that has eclipsed that of the country’s 2018-2020 outbreak when 2,299 deaths out of 3,481 cases were recorded. The latest data shows 101 new cases and 33 [...]
Beyond an Agency: How AI, Creativity and Commercialization Are Converging Into a New Growth Model
At a moment when AI is forcing a fundamental rethink of how work gets done, the life sciences industry is grappling with a deeper question: what role should human creativity play in an increasingly [...]
