AstraZeneca Pharma shares tank 10% as firm pauses COVID vaccine trial

AstraZeneca Pharma share price tumbled over 10 percent in the morning tarde on September 9 after late-stage studies of a highly-anticipated COVID-19 vaccine candidate, being developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford, have been put on temporary hold due to a suspected serious adverse reaction in a participant in the United Kingdom.

The company is now investigating if a report of a patient with a serious side effect is linked to the shot.

AstraZeneca, a frontrunner in the race for a COVID-19 vaccine, said in a statement on September 8 that the company’s “standard review process triggered a pause to vaccination to allow review of safety data.”

The AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine is seen as one of the most promising of the vaccines against the novel coronavirus infection that are currently under development.