Last checked at 
* EU to require pre-registration of COVID vaccine exports
-source
* AstraZeneca asked for further clarification after sudden
cut
* EU paid 336 mln euros to boost Astra's production capacity
* Australia, Thailand say Astra has told them of cut to
supplies
(adds AstraZeneca global supply problems)
By Francesco Guarascio and Sabine Siebold
BRUSSELS, Jan 25 (Reuters) - The European Union urged
AstraZeneca on Monday to find ways to swiftly deliver
vaccines after the company announced a large cut in supplies of
its COVID-19 shot to the bloc, as news emerged the drugmaker
also faced supply problems elsewhere.
In a sign of the EU's frustration - after Pfizer
also announced supply delays earlier in January - a senior EU
official told Reuters the bloc would in the coming days require
pharmaceutical companies to register COVID-19 vaccine exports.
AstraZeneca, which developed its shot with Oxford
University, told the EU on Friday it could not meet agreed
supply targets up to the end of March, with an EU official
involved in the talks telling Reuters that meant a 60% cut to 31
million doses.
"We expect the company to find solutions and to exploit all
possible flexibilities to deliver swiftly," an EU Commission
spokesman said, adding the head of the EU executive Ursula von
der Leyen had a call earlier on Monday with AstraZeneca's chief
Pascal Soriot to remind him of the firm's commitments.
A spokesman for AstraZeneca said Soriot told von der Leyen
the company was doing everything it could to bring its vaccine
to millions of Europeans as soon as possible.
News emerged on Monday that the company faces wider supply
problems.
Australia's Health Minister Greg Hunt told reporters
AstraZeneca had advised the country it had experienced "a
significant supply shock", which would cut supplies in March
below what was agreed. He did not provide figures.
Thailand's Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said
AstraZeneca would be supplying 150,000 doses instead of the
200,000 planned, and far less than the 1 million shots the
country had initially requested.
AstraZeneca declined to comment on global supply issues.
'FLIMSY JUSTIFICATION'
The senior EU official said the bloc had a contractual right
to check the company's books to assess production and
deliveries, a move that could imply the EU fears doses being
diverted from Europe to other buyers outside the bloc.
AstraZeneca has received an upfront payment of 336 million
euros ($409 million) from the EU, another official told Reuters
when the 27-nation bloc sealed a supply deal with the company in
August for at least 300 million doses - the first signed by the
EU to secure COVID-19 shots..
Under advance purchase deals sealed during the pandemic, the
EU makes down-payments to companies to secure doses, with the
money expected to be mostly used to expand production capacity.
"Initial volumes will be lower than originally anticipated
due to reduced yields at a manufacturing site within our
European supply chain," AstraZeneca said on Friday.
The site is a viral vectors factory in Belgium run by the
drugmaker's partner Novasep.
Viral vectors are produced in genetically modified living
cells that have to be nurtured in bioreactors. The complex
procedure requires fine-tuning of various inputs and variables
to arrive at consistently high yields.
"The flimsy justification that there are difficulties in the
EU supply chain but not elsewhere does not hold water, as it is
of course no problem to get the vaccine from the UK to the
continent," said EU lawmaker Peter Liese, who is from the same
party as German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The EU called a meeting with AstraZeneca after Friday's
announcement to seek further clarification. The meeting started
at 1230 CET on Monday.
The EU official involved in the talks with AstraZeneca said
expectations were not high for the meeting, in which the company
will be asked to better explain the delays.
Earlier in January, Pfizer, which is currently the
largest supplier of COVID-19 vaccines to the EU, announced
delays of nearly a month to its shipments, but hours later
revised this to say the delays would last only a week.
EU contracts with vaccine makers are confidential, but the
EU official involved in the talks did not rule out penalties for
AstraZeneca, given the large revision to its commitments.
However, the source did not elaborate on what could trigger the
penalties. "We are not there yet," the official added.
"AstraZeneca has been contractually obligated to produce
since as early as October and they are apparently delivering to
other parts of the world, including the UK without delay," Liese
said.
AstraZeneca's vaccine is expected to be approved for use in
the EU on Jan. 29, with first deliveries expected from Feb. 15.
($1 = 0.8214 euros)
(Reporting by Francesco Guarascio @fraguarascio and Sabine
Siebold; additional reporting by Ludwig Burger in Frankfurt,
Chayut Setboonsarng in Bangkok, Kirsty Needham in Sidney;
Editing by Pravin Char, Kirsten Donovan and Mark Potter)
