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SENEFFE, Feb 10 (Reuters) - A plant in Belgium said to be
the cause of big cuts in AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine supplies
to the European Union said on Wednesday it had produced all
doses required under a contract it has with the Anglo-Swedish
firm.
The factory, which U.S. firm Thermo Fisher acquired
from Novasep in January, has been identified as the cause of the
cuts by AstraZeneca in internal meetings, several EU
officials have said.
"We have complied with all the contractual requirements we
have with AstraZeneca," Thermo Fisher's vice president for the
EU, Cedric Volanti, told a news conference on Wednesday, when
asked about possible production problems the plant had faced.
AstraZeneca was not immediately available for a comment.
AstraZeneca on Jan. 15 announced cuts in its supply of
vaccines to the EU in the first quarter, which EU officials said
amounted to a 60% reduction to 31 million doses through March.
EU officials repeatedly said AstraZeneca had told them the
cause of the problem were production issues at the Novasep
factory in Belgium, acquired by Thermo Fisher on Jan. 15.
Volanti declined to comment on the number of doses the
company has committed to producing for AstraZeneca and
underscored that the change of property had had no negative
impact on the production capacity of the factory.
When asked whether the Belgian plant, located in Seneffe at
an hour drive from Brussels, sold doses to Britain, Volanti said
the company sends vaccines to an Italian facility that bottles
them before delivering to clients.
EU Industry Commissioner Thierry Breton said he was
confident about the production capacity of the Thermo Fisher's
plant in Belgium.
(Reporting by Francesco Guarascio @fraguarascio; additional
reporting by Ludwig Burger; editing by John Stonestreet and
Elaine Hardcastle)
