01/10/2020 (Agence Europe) – The European Medicines Agency (EMA) announced on Thursday 1 October that it has begun an ongoing review of data related to the candidate vaccine developed by AstraZeneca in collaboration with Oxford University. The decision of the EMA, and more specifically its Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use, is based on preliminary results of non-clinical and early clinical studies suggesting that the vaccine triggers the production of antibodies and T cells (cells of the immune system, the body’s natural defences) that target the virus. However, in its press release, the EU agency stresses that the initiation of this procedure “does not mean that a conclusion can already be drawn on the safety and efficacy of the vaccine”. Ongoing review will continue until sufficient evidence is available to support an application for formal market authorisation. (SPj)