AstraZeneca says EU loses legal bid for more vaccine supplies by end-June

LONDON, June 18 (Reuters) - AstraZeneca on Friday
said the European Union had lost a legal case against the
pharmaceutical firm over the supply of COVID-19 vaccines as a
court in Brussels rejected an EU request for more deliveries by
the end of June.

The Anglo-Swedish firm committed in a contract to do its
best to deliver to the 27-nation bloc 300 million doses by the
end of June, but production problems led the pharmaceutical
company to revise down its target to 100 million vaccines.

The cuts in the supplies delayed the EU's vaccination drive
in the first quarter of the year, when the bloc had initially
bet on AstraZeneca to deliver the largest volume of jabs. That
led to a bitter dispute and to the EU's legal action to get at
least 120 million doses by the end of June.

But the judge said the company should only deliver 80.2
million doses by a deadline of Sept. 27, AstraZeneca said.
(Reporting by Francesco Guarascio and Muvija M; writing by
Alistair Smout; editing by David Evans)