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(Alliance News) - AstraZeneca PLC on Friday announced that its Covid-19 vaccine has been recommended for conditional marketing authorisation in the EU, for use on all adults.
The vaccine has already been given a CMA for emergency use in 20 countries.
The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use based its positive opinion of the vaccine on a rolling review of trial data from the phase three programme led by the University of Oxford.
The CHMP has recommended that two doses of Covid-19 vaccine AstraZeneca, formerly known as AZD1222, be administered at a four-to-12 week interval, a dosing regimen demonstrated in clinical trials to be safe and effective in preventing symptomatic Covid-19.
The FTSE 100 pharmaceutical giant expects the EU to shortly approve a CMA for active immunisation across member states shortly. In addition, Astra is seeking emergency use listing from the World Health Organization to increase availability in low-income countries.
"Today's recommendation underscores the value of AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine which is not only effective and well-tolerated, but also easy to administer and, importantly, protects fully against severe disease and hospitalisations. We are deeply grateful to Oxford University, participants in the clinical trials and AstraZeneca colleagues for their unwavering commitment to providing this lifesaving vaccine to millions of Europeans," said Chief Executive Officer Pascal Soriot.
Crucially, the CHMP backed the jab to be used in all adults, including the elderly. On Thursday, Germany's vaccine commission STIKO said it was recommending use of the vaccine among under-65-year-olds only, due to insufficient data on its effectiveness on older people.
Also on Thursday, the EU said it was looking at legal means to guarantee the delivery of all the Covid-19 vaccine doses it bought from Astra and other pharmaceutical companies.
Officials in Brussels have quarrelled with Astra, after the pharmaceutical company said it would deliver smaller than expected supplies to the 27 EU nations. The bloc's executive commission asked Belgian authorities to inspect a factory in Belgium that is part of AstraZeneca's vaccine production chain.
The European Commission on Friday published a redacted version of its contract with Astra, in a bid to prove the company had breached a commitment on vaccine deliveries.
Shares in AstraZeneca were down 1.0% at 7,576.00 pence each on Friday afternoon in London.
By Dayo Laniyan; dayolaniyan@alliancenews.com
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