AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine pause is ‘not necessarily’ a setback, UK official

AstraZeneca’s decision to pause a closely-watched coronavirus vaccine trial due to safety concerns, is not necessarily a setback to its development, The U.K.’s health minister defended the decision.

AstraZeneca announced that the pause was due to a potentially unexplained illness in one of its trials.

The pharma giant’s shares fell more than 6% in after-hours trading Tuesday and its London-listed shares slipped 0.4% as European markets opened on Wednesday.

AstraZeneca told CNBC in a statement Tuesday that the pause “is a routine action which has to happen whenever there is a potentially unexplained illness in one of the trials, while it is investigated, ensuring we maintain the integrity of the trials.”

AstraZeneca began its trial late last month and is one of three companies currently in late-stage testing for a potential vaccine. The other two are Pfizer and Moderna, which both began their trials in late July.