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BRUSSELS, Feb 25 (Reuters) - AstraZeneca boss Pascal
Soriot said on Thursday he hoped to meet the European Union's
expectations on the number of COVID-19 vaccines the company can
deliver to the bloc in the second quarter, after big cuts in the
first three months of the year.
The Anglo-Swedish drugmaker has been under fire in the EU
for its delayed supplies of shots to the 27-nation bloc, which
ordered 300 million doses by the end of June.
"We are working 24/7 to improve delivery and hopefully catch
up to the expectations for Q2," Soriot told EU lawmakers in a
public hearing.
Under its contract with the EU, the company has committed to
delivering 180 million doses in the second quarter.
Soriot did not mention the 180 million target, but said he
was confident the company will be able to increase production in
the second quarter using factories outside the EU that had no
production problems, including in the United States.
He confirmed the company was trying to get 40 million doses
of the COVID-19 vaccine to the EU by the end of March, which is
less than half the amount it promised for the quarter in its
contract.
The EU, which has fallen far behind the United States and
former member Britain in vaccinating its public, has repeatedly
urged the firm to deliver more.
Lower-than-expected yields - the amount of vaccine that can
be produced from base ingredients - at its factories hurt output
in the first three months.
Asked about supplies to Britain, which relies on the same
factories used by the EU, Soriot said the former EU member with
a population of around 66 million was smaller, and noted that
most doses produced in the EU were used to serve the EU which
has a population of about 450 million.
Executives from rival drugmakers that have developed or are
testing COVID-19 vaccines, including Moderna Inc and
CureVac NV were also part of the panel.
But most questions were directed at Soriot amid anger that
the company has failed to deliver promised vaccine quantities
to the bloc on schedule.
Moderna Chief Executive Officer Stephane Bancel
said the company has experienced fluctuations as the U.S.
biotech group ramps up output of its COVID-19 vaccine.
He said usually a company would stockpile product ahead of a
launch, but it is shipping every dose it makes, leaving it
without any spare inventory.
His comments came a day after the company increased its
output target for this year and 2022 as it invests in additional
manufacturing capacity.
(Reporting by Josephine Mason in London and Francesco Guarascio
in Brussels; Editing by Susan Fenton, Bill Berkrot and Keith
Weir)
