* First data from late-stage COVID vaccine trial seen in Q4
* Q3 product sales $6.52 bln vs consensus $6.50 bln
* Q3 profit misses on higher R&D expenses, taxes
* 2020 outlook maintained
(Recasts with CEO comments, background)
By Pushkala Aripaka and Ludwig Burger
Nov 5 (Reuters) - A summer dip in UK coronavirus infections
has pushed back test results for AstraZenca's potential COVID-19
vaccine, leading the drugmaker to delay deliveries of shots to
the UK government.
Britain's vaccines chief said on Wednesday it would receive
just 4 million doses of the potential vaccine this year, against
initial estimates for 30 million by Sept. 30.
AstraZeneca said on Thursday it was holding back
deliveries while it awaits the data from late-stage clinical
trials in order to maximise the shelf-life of supplies.
It is keeping the vaccine frozen in large containers, and
will only add a final ingredient, put it into vials and keep it
at fridge temperature when the vaccine gets closer to approval.
"We are a little bit late in deliveries, which is why the
vaccine has been kept in frozen form," CEO Pascal Soriot said on
a conference call.
However, he added AstraZeneca was "fully" prepared to launch
the vaccine when it is ready, adding the company's weekly
delivery schedule should roughly match what the UK government
has in mind for its vaccination plans.
AstraZeneca and its partner on the project, the University
of Oxford, said data from late-stage trials should land this
year. If successful, the pair will file for emergency approvals
in as many countries as possible at the same time, Soriot said.
The British duo are racing with Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna and
others to publish the first detailed results from large COVID-19
vaccine trials. A vaccine is seen as the world's best bet for
beating a pandemic that has led to more than 1.2 million deaths,
roiled economies and disrupted billions of lives.
Earlier this year, AstraZeneca also agreed to start
supplying millions of doses by the end of 2020 to the United
States, the European Union and poorer nations through epidemic
response group CEPI and vaccine alliance GAVI, subject to the
results of the trials and regulatory approval.
The company hopes the shot will be effective for at least a
year, but only trial data can confirm this.
MIXED RESULTS
While working on the vaccine, AstraZeneca is also making
progress on its pipeline of other drugs.
On Thursday, the company said two of its main drugs - cancer
treatment Lynparza and diabetes medicine Forxiga - had been
approved for wider use in Europe.
For the third quarter, product sales of $6.52 billion were
ahead of a company-compiled consensus of $6.50 billion. The
number excluded payments from collaborations.
However, core earnings of 94 cents per share for the three
months ended Sept. 30 missed analysts' expectations of 98 cents.
Research and development costs jumped 11% to $1.5 billion,
as more projects moved into the final stage of testing on humans
- typically the most expensive.
The company said it still expected total revenue in 2020 to
increase by a high single-digit to a low double-digit percentage
and core earnings per share to increase by a mid- to high-teens
percentage.
(Reporting by Pushkala Aripaka, Ludwig Burger in Frankfurt;
Editing by Bernard Orr and Mark Potter)
Astrazeneca (AZN)
