(Alliance News) - AstraZeneca PLC on Friday said it has sealed an agreement to supply the European Commission with up to 400 million does of its AZD1222 Covid-19 vaccine.
The pact is the company's first Covid-19 vaccine deal with the European Commission, the Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical giant noted.
"Building on the existing agreement with Europe's Inclusive Vaccines Alliance spearheaded by Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands, this new agreement will give all EU member states the option to access the vaccine in an equitable manner at no profit during the pandemic. It also allows EU member states to redirect doses to other European countries," the drugmaker said.
"AstraZeneca continues to engage with governments, multilateral organisations and partners around the world to ensure broad and equitable access to the vaccine, should clinical trials prove successful. Recent supply announcements with Russia, South Korea, Japan, China, Latin America and Brazil take the global supply capacity towards three billion doses of the vaccine."
In July, AstraZeneca ported encouraging interim results from a trial of the vaccine, being developed alongside Oxford University.
The much-anticipated findings showed that a single dose of AZD1222 resulted in a four-fold increase in antibodies fighting SARS-CoV-2, the virus strain which causes Covid-19.
Shares in the Cambridge-based firm were 1.3% lower at 8,433.00 pence each in London on Friday afternoon.
By Eric Cunha; ericcunha@alliancenews.com
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Astrazeneca (AZN)