As AstraZeneca approaches the European authorization for its highly anticipated COVID-19 vaccine, the drug manufacturer has notified officials that initial deliveries will be easier than initially expected.
Two German-language publications, Bild and oe24, report that AZ notified EU officials this week that its first-quarter deliveries will be lower than initially expected. An AstraZeneca spokesman attributed the drop in “reduced yields at a production site in our European supply chain”.
“We will supply tens of millions of doses in February and March to the European Union, while continuing to increase the volume of production,” she said.
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The news comes after AstraZeneca applied for European authorization for the Oxford partner vaccine earlier this month. The company’s vaccine could gain European authorization at the end of January, according to reports. To date, Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines have received European green lights.
In a phase 3 study, the AstraZeneca vaccine was 70% effective overall, but a dosing error in some participants resulted in greater efficacy. For study participants who received half a dose followed by a full dose, the efficacy was 90%. For those who received two full doses, the effectiveness was 62%. The results raised questions about the vaccine and prompted AZ to conduct another study.
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Meanwhile, the UK drug maker’s first-quarter dose reduction adds to the pain of reduced EU deliveries of Pfizer / BioNTech shot this week as those companies work to increase production capacity. Some countries have pushed back the slowdown, even though manufacturers say a modernization of the plant will allow them to make more doses in 2021.