AstraZeneca falls as early-stage data on coronavirus vaccine are published

Shares of AstraZeneca AZN, -2.56% AZN, 2.18% were down 3.4% in trading on Monday after a medical journal published a study that found the company’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate produced antibody and T-cell responses in participants in a Phase 1/2 clinical trial. AstraZeneca is developing the experimental vaccine with the University of Oxford; the study was published in The Lancet. The single-blind, randomized, controlled trial found that neutralizing antibody responses were reported in 91% of 35 patients when utilizing one test and 100% of 35 patients when using a different test. It also found that T-cell responses peaked on day 14. “A single dose elicited both humoral and cellular responses against SARS-CoV-2, with a booster immunization augmenting neutralizing antibody titers,” the study’s authors wrote. BioNTech BNTX, 4.30% and Pfizer Inc. PFE, 1.34%, which are also developing a COVID-19 vaccine, said earlier on Monday that their vaccine candidate produced a T-cell response in participants in an early-stage trial in Germany. AstraZeneca’s stock has gained 21.3% year-to-date, in comparison with the S&P 500 SPX, 0.24%, which is down 0.2%.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/astrazenecas-stock-fall-3-as-results-from-early-stage-study-on-coronavirus-vaccine-are-published-2020-07-20