FRANKFURT, Nov 18 (Reuters) - AstraZeneca said its
antibody cocktail against COVID-19 would - unlike its vaccine -
be priced commercially as it negotiates supply contracts with
governments around the globe.
"We are looking at a commercial pricing strategy. That is
part of our negotiations with governments," Iskra Reic, Astra's
Executive Vice President for vaccines and immune therapies, said
in a media call on Thursday.
She added that the group's main objective was to make the
shot affordable and broadly available.
AstraZeneca earlier cemented its lead in bringing a
preventative COVID-19 shot to market, saying its antibody
cocktail offered 83% protection over six months, another
possible weapon in the fight against the pandemic.
Chief Executive Pascal Soriot said on the call that the
antibody treatment was more complicated to produce than a
vaccine but that there would be enough production capacity
around the world to meet demand.
(Reporting by Ludwig Burger and Pushkala Aripaka; Editing by
Kirsten Donovan)