(adds legal case, duration of contract)
By Francesco Guarascio
BRUSSELS, May 10 (Reuters) - AstraZeneca Plc has
delivered 50 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine to European
Union countries, according to EU supply data, a milestone the
company had originally been expected to hit in January.
The volumes delivered make up just one-sixth of total
commitments so far, and the European Commission is set to launch
on Tuesday a second legal case against AstraZeneca over delayed
deliveries, a spokesman for the EU executive said on Monday.
Repeated cuts to supplies, which contributed to delays in
the EU's vaccination drive, pushed the EU Commission to sue the
Anglo-Swedish drugmaker in late April in a bid to get more doses
by mid-year.
On Tuesday, it will launch a new case on the merits of the
issue, which an official familiar with the proceedings said was
mostly procedural but would allow the EU to seek potential
financial penalties.
AstraZeneca had shipped nearly 50 million doses as of May 7,
an EU official told Reuters on Monday, citing the latest EU
internal figures on vaccine supplies.
In mid-March, the company had pledged to deliver 50.2
million doses to the EU by the end of April, an AstraZeneca
document seen by Reuters showed.
But AstraZeneca had shipped only 47.6 million doses by April
30, a spokesman for the company said, adding that other doses
were sent over the first weekend of May and in the following
days, "following requests to not ship to a few countries that
had public holidays during this period".
Immediately after the EU sued the company, AstraZeneca
issued a statement on April 26 saying it would deliver "almost
50 million doses to European countries by the end of April".
Under its contract with the EU, the company had committed to
its "best reasonable efforts" to deliver 300 million doses by
the end of June, of which 70 million were supposed to be
delivered by the end of January.
Citing production problems and export restrictions,
AstraZeneca in March said it would deliver to the EU only 100
million doses by the end of June. It delivered 30 million in
total by the end of March.
The vaccine was approved for use in the EU in late January,
but the EU Commission has said AstraZeneca should have applied
earlier.
The EU wants to receive as many doses as possible of the 300
million contracted, but in a further sign of its lost confidence
in AstraZeneca, it has already decided not to take up an option
within the contract for 100 million additional doses.
On Sunday, EU industry commissioner Thierry Breton said the
commission was also not planning to negotiate a new contract
with the firm.
(Reporting by Francesco Guarascio;
Editing by Bill Berkrot and Bernadette Baum)
Astrazeneca (AZN)
