* AstraZeneca cut supplies to EU after issues at Belgian
plant
* EU wants agreed doses from other plants, including UK
* EU calls for publication of contract after Soriot's
disclosures
* Tensions show in confusion over EU-AstraZeneca meeting
(Adds officials with details on plants, Boris Johnson)
By Francesco Guarascio and Ludwig Burger
BRUSSELS, Jan 27 (Reuters) - The European Union is pushing
AstraZeneca to supply the block with more doses of its
COVID-19 vaccine from plants in Europe and Britain after the
company announced delivery delays, adding to frustrations over
the EU's inoculation programme.
The EU is making more comprehensive checks on vaccines
before approval, which means a slower rollout of shots compared
with some other regions, especially former EU member Britain.
The issue has been exacerbated by Anglo-Swedish AstraZeneca
and Pfizer of the United States both announcing delivery
holdups in recent weeks.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it would have been
a "great pity" if the United Kingdom had stayed in the European
Union's vaccine programme rather than set up its own plan.
"I do think that we've been able to do things differently,
and better, in some ways," he said in parliament.
AstraZeneca, which partnered with Britain's Oxford
University to develop its vaccine, has said it is cutting
supplies to the EU in the first quarter due to production
issues.
An EU official said the EU would receive 31 million doses in
the period, or 60% less than initially agreed, due to production
issues at a Belgian factory.
The EU has been pushing the company for a week to revise
these cuts, but it is unclear how it can force AstraZeneca to
deliver the agreed amounts.
Pascal Soriot, the French chief executive of AstraZeneca,
told newspapers on Tuesday the EU contract was based on a
best-effort clause and did not commit the company to a specific
timetable for deliveries.
Soriot said that vaccines meant for the EU were produced in
four plants in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Italy.
But EU Commission officials said on Wednesday that under the
contract, the company had also committed to providing vaccines
from two factories in Britain.
They added the firm had not provided sufficient explanations
on why doses could not be shipped from stocks at factories which
experienced no production problem, like those in Britain.
Reuters on Tuesday exclusively reported that EU's calls to
reroute doses from Britain had not been answered by AstraZeneca
.
Adding to the confusion, a factory in Wales that produces
AstraZeneca's vaccine was partially evacuated on Wednesday after
it received a suspicious package and police said a bomb disposal
unit was dealing with the incident.
MEETING OR NO MEETING?
The EU has also threatened to monitor future exports of
COVID-19 vaccines in retaliation for companies announcing
delays, although the EU trade commissioner ruled out any export
bans.
Fraught relations showed up in confusion about the timing of
a meeting between the EU and AstraZeneca.
EU officials said the firm had pulled out of a virtual
meeting scheduled for Wednesday, an Austrian minister then said
it was set for Thursday, which was followed by an AstraZeneca
statement saying it would go ahead on Wednesday as planned.
The EU contract with AstraZeneca is an advance purchase
agreement for the supply of at least 300 million doses provided
the vaccine is approved as safe and effective, with doses
delivered in stages. A decision on approval is scheduled for
Friday.
In a further sign of friction, EU officials also said
details revealed by Soriot on production capacity and
best-effort clause were confidential, and hinted at the possible
breach of contract.
Officials added that the best-effort clause was standard in
contracts with manufacturers of products in development.
"Best effort is a completely standard clause when you are
signing a contract with a company for a product that does not
yet exist," one official said. "Obviously you cannot put a
completely legal obligation" under these conditions.
But the official said best effort meant the company had to
show an "overall" effort to develop and deliver vaccines.
AstraZeneca said on Wednesday: "Each supply chain was
developed with input and investment from specific countries or
international organisations based on the supply agreements,
including our agreement with the European Commission."
"As each supply chain has been set up to meet the needs of a
specific agreement, the vaccine produced from any supply chain
is dedicated to the relevant countries or regions and makes use
of local manufacturing wherever possible," the firm added.
Philanthropist Bill Gates told Reuters the rollout of
vaccines was a "super hard allocation problem" that was putting
pressure on global institutions, governments and drugmakers.
"If you're a pharma company that didn't make a vaccine,
you're not under pressure. But the ones who did make the vaccine
- they are the ones being attacked," he said. "It's all very
zero-sum."
(Reporting by Francesco Guarascio and Ludwig Burger; Additional
reporting by Francois Murphy and Kate Kelland; Editing by Nick
Macfie and Edmund Blair)
Astrazeneca (AZN)
