Last checked at 
* News comes after review of vaccine operations
* COVID-19 shot has suffered setbacks during pandemic
* Company has antibody therapy proven to prevent infection
* Move shows company sees future for COVID-19 vaccine beyond
pandemic - analyst
(Adds details, analyst comment)
By Pushkala Aripaka
Nov 9 (Reuters) - AstraZeneca is creating a separate
division for vaccines and antibody therapies, the drugmaker said
on Tuesday, to focus on its COVID-19 shot and the development of
coronavirus treatments after a series of setbacks during the
pandemic.
Reuters reported in July that the Anglo-Swedish company was
exploring options https://reut.rs/3bTjnX5 for its vaccine
business and expected to have greater clarity on the matter by
the end of 2021.
The new division, which will be led by executive
vice-president of Europe and Canada, Iskra Reic, will combine
research and development, manufacturing, commercial and medical
teams, a company spokesperson said.
"The team will be dedicated to our COVID-19 vaccine, our
long-acting antibody combination and our developmental vaccine
addressing multiple variants of concern, as well as to our
existing portfolio for respiratory viral disease," the
spokesperson said.
The decision to set up a new business comes after a
tumultuous 18 months for the drugmaker, which developed its
COVID-19 vaccine in conjunction with Oxford University.
Production problems forced the company to cut deliveries to
the European Union this year, prompting the bloc to launch a
legal challenge. Governments have also restricted its use among
certain age groups due to links to rare blood clots and its
application for U.S. approval is taking longer than expected.
But positive results from trials of its antibody cocktail as
a preventative shot against COVID-19 have given the company a
major boost, potentially positioning it as a supplier of both
COVID-19 vaccines and treatments.
The creation of the separate vaccines division was first
reported by the Financial Times.
The move indicates AstraZeneca sees a future for its
COVID-19 shot beyond the pandemic but shouldn't be taken as a
sign it is planning a full-scale entry into the broader vaccine
market, Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Nicholas Hyett said.
"That would require significant new research and development
investment, and as yet we have no indication that this is
forthcoming," he said.
AstraZeneca has pledged to supply vaccines at cost during
the pandemic. The not-for-profit strategy and challenges with
the shot fuelled speculation about whether it would want to keep
the business in the long term.
While AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine remained a drag on
profits in the second quarter, sales https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/astrazeneca-covid-vaccine-sales-jump-894-mln-updates-forecasts-2021-07-29
of the shot more than tripled to $894 million from the first
three months of the year, making it one of the company's
best-selling products.
AstraZeneca is due to report third-quarter results on
Friday.
(Reporting by Pushkala Aripaka in Bengaluru; Writing by
Josephine Mason; Editing by Anil D'Silva, Mark Potter and David
Clarke)
