21st May 2020 08:51
(Alliance News) - AstraZeneca PLC on Thursday said it will begin first deliveries of the University of Oxford's Covid-19 vaccine in September and has received over USD1 billion from the US Biomedical Advanced Research & Development Authority.
The money from BARDA will go towards development, production and delivery of the vaccine beginning in autumn. Astra's development programme includes a phase 3 trial involving 30,000 participants as well as a paediatric trial.
The FTSE 100-listed drug maker is working with the UK government to support the Oxford University vaccine and will supply this vaccine to the UK beginning September.
First agreements for at least 400 million doses have been concluded, with Astra securing total manufacturing capacity for 1 billion doses so far.
"AstraZeneca aims to conclude further agreements supported by several parallel supply chains, which will expand capacity further over the next months to ensure the delivery of a globally accessible vaccine," the company added.
Astra is speaking with international organisations, such as the Whorld health Organisation, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, and Gavi the Vaccine Alliance to ensure "the fair allocation and distribution of the vaccine around the world". It is also in talks with governments to increase vaccine access and with the Serum Institute of India plus other partners to increase distribution and production.
The company has finalised its licence agreement with Oxford University for the vaccine, which was known as ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 but has now been named AZD1222. This follows the recent signing of a global development and distribution agreement with Oxford Vaccine Group and the university's Jenner Institute.
Astra also will support the establishment of a joint research centre at Oxford University, which will conduct "pandemic preparedness research".
A phase 1/2 UK clinical trial of AZD1222 started in April looking at the vaccine's safety, efficacy, and immunogenicity - immunogenicity in this case being the ability of the vaccine to create and immune response.
In total, more than 1,000 healthy volunteers took part in this phase 1/2 trial, with data due shortly. A positive results would then lead to late-stage trials in a number of countries.
AstraZeneca said it "recognises that the vaccine may not work but is committed to progressing the clinical program with speed and scaling up manufacturing at risk".
This news is not expected to materially impact Astra's 2020 financial guidance, with the expense of progressing the vaccine likely offset by government funding.
Chief Executive Pascal Soriot said: "This pandemic is a global tragedy and it is a challenge for all of humanity. We need to defeat the virus together or it will continue to inflict huge personal suffering and leave long-lasting economic and social scars in every country around the world. We are so proud to be collaborating with Oxford University to turn their ground-breaking work into a medicine that can be produced on a global scale.
"We would like to thank the US and UK governments for their substantial support to accelerate the development and production of the vaccine. We will do everything in our power to make this vaccine quickly and widely available."
Shares in AstraZeneca were down 1.4% at 8,760.00 pence in London on Thursday morning.
By Anna Farley; [email protected]
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