It is "still feasible" that the Oxford vaccine could be approved by regulators by end of 2020, the CEO of AstraZeneca said on Thursday.
While speaking at an event held by media organisation Tortoise Pascal Soriot said that "it depends on how fast the regulator will review and give approval, so we could still have a vaccine by the end of this year or maybe early next year".
Mr Soriot added that more tests were required before a diagnosis could be made over the condition of volunteer who had reported side effects is connected with the experimental vaccine.
“At AstraZeneca we put science, safety and the interests of society at the heart of our work", Mr Soriot said, while addressing the subsequent pausing of the vaccine trial as a result. "This temporary pause is living proof that we follow those principles while a single event at one of our trial sites is assessed by a committee of independent experts".
He added that the company will be "guided by this committee as to when the trials could restart so that we can continue our work at the earliest opportunity to provide this vaccine broadly, equitably and at no profit during this pandemic".
The nature of the volunteer's adverse reaction and when it happened is currently unknown.
This news comes as UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock spoke optimistically just a day before the pause announced on Tuesday, saying that the vaccine could be available early in the new year.
Hancock said on Monday that it was “looking up” that the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca would be granted approval following first trials in several countries.
The vaccine, which is being developed by Oxford University, is being tested on thousands of people in Britain and the US, as well as smaller sample groups in South America.
