AstraZeneca has admitted that a mistake had been made in the coronavirus trials conducted by the company. This has caused a certain amount of confusion as well as a drop in its share prices as reports say that this may hamper its FDA early approval.

AstraZeneca had created waves initially by saying that its vaccine would be much cheaper than the ones developed by Pfizer and Moderna as well as it would be easier to store.

However the UK pharmaceutical company, along with its partner Oxford University, said that a mistake had been made. After getting 90% positive results, they realized that a batch of the volunteers had been given half doses but showed better results than the main group of volunteers who were given the correct two doses but showed 62% efficacy.

Natalie Dean, a biostatistician and expert in vaccine trial design from the University of Florida wrote, “It is awfully confusing for experts and non experts alike.” She gave Team UK vaccine “a poor grade for transparency and rigor,” on Twitter.

Analysts and scientists alike have been disappointed with the handling of the issue as well as the mistake though the lead researcher at AstraZeneca called it “serendipity.”

A spokesperson for AstraZeneca Michele Meixell said that the trials were conducted “to the highest standard,” and added that more analysis is being carried out to refine the efficacy results.

Source NY Post NY Times