(Adds quotes from CEO, details. Trims older material)
ROME, June 13 (Reuters) - AstraZeneca Plc has signed
a contract with European governments to supply the region with
its potential vaccine against the coronavirus, the British
drugmaker's latest deal to pledge its drug to help combat the
pandemic.
The contract is for up to 400 million doses of the vaccine,
developed by the University of Oxford, the company said on
Saturday, adding that it was looking to expand manufacturing of
the vaccine, which it said it would provide for no profit during
the pandemic.
Deliveries will start by the end of 2020.
The deal is the first contract signed by Europe's Inclusive
Vaccines Alliance (IVA), a group formed by France, Germany,
Italy and the Netherlands to secure vaccine doses for all member
states as soon as possible.
"This will ensure that hundreds of millions of people in
Europe will have access to this vaccine, of course if it works
and we will know that by the end of summer," the company's chief
executive, Pascal Soriot told journalists. He said he has "good
hope" that it will work, based on initial data.
The alliance "will work together with the European
Commission and other countries in Europe to ensure everybody
across Europe is supplied with the vaccine," he said.
"We have a very self-sufficient supply chain for Europe"
with manufacturers lined up in the Netherlands, Germany, Italy
and Italy, among others, he said.
The vaccines are for all EU member states. The four nations
that agreed the deal will pay for the total amount, which has
not been disclosed, and the scheme allows other countries to
join it under the same conditions, a source from the Italian
health ministry said.
China, Brazil, Japan and Russia have also expressed
interest, he said.
The British Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory
Agency (MHRA) has approved the start of Phase III trials of the
vaccine after studies showed sufficient efficacy and safety,
Soriot said.
At a meeting of EU Health Ministers on Friday, IVA agreed to
merge its activities with those of the EU Commission, Germany's
Health Ministry said.
The deal is the latest by AstraZeneca to promise to supply
its vaccine to governments who have scrambled to agree advance
purchases of promising coronavirus immunisation treatments.
It has agreed manufacturing deals globally to meet its
target of producing 2 billion doses of the vaccine, including
with two Bill Gates-backed ventures and a $1.2 billion agreement
with the U.S. government.
The deal will add a further 100 million doses to the 2
billion already committed by the group, AstraZeneca said.
There are no approved vaccines or treatments for COVID-19,
the highly contagious respiratory illness caused by the novel
coronavirus.
"Many countries in the world have already secured vaccines,
Europe has not yet. The rapid coordinated action of a group of
member states will create added value for all EU citizens in
this crisis," Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranza said.
(Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte in Rome and Rama Venkat in
Bangalore; additional reporting by Madeline Chambers in Berlin,
Anthony Deutsch in Amsterdam and Ludwig Burger; writing by
Giulia Segreti; editing by David Holmes and Louise Heavens)
Astrazeneca (AZN)
