AstraZeneca to begin supply of Covid-19 vaccine in September

AstraZeneca said it has now finalised its licence agreement with Oxford University for the vaccineAstraZeneca said it has now finalised its licence agreement with Oxford University for the vaccine
AstraZeneca said it has now finalised its licence agreement with Oxford University for the vaccine | other
AstraZeneca has said it has the capacity to manufacture one billion doses of the University of Oxford's potential Covid-19 vaccine and will begin supply in September.

The pharmaceutical giant said it has secured the first agreements for at least 400 million doses of the vaccine.

It said it aims to conclude further deals in order to expand capacity over the next few months to ensure the delivery of a globally accessible vaccine.

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On Monday, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said that if Oxford University's Covid-19 vaccine candidate proves successful, then up to 30 million doses for the UK could be available by September.

AstraZeneca said it has now finalised its licence agreement with Oxford University for the vaccine, which will now be known as AZD1222.

Pascal Soriot, chief executive of AstraZeneca, 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.

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"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."

The company has received more than $1bn (£820m) from the US Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (Barda) for the development, production and delivery of the vaccine, starting in the autumn.

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