‘Novasep site’ cuts AstraZeneca vaccine production ‘by 60%’. [ Ссылка ] AstraZeneca (Cambridge, UK) has revealed that unspecified production problems at its CMO Novasep’s (Lyon, France) Belgian site mean it will produce only 40% of the doses it promised to the EU in Q1, according to Reuters. It will now deliver only 31 million doses. An EU official said AstraZeneca plans to begin deliveries to the EU from 15 February.
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“Initial volumes will be lower than originally anticipated due to reduced yields at a manufacturing site within our European supply chain,” said an AstraZeneca spokesperson.
AstraZeneca announced in June 2020 an agreement with Novasep for large-scale viral vector production for the vaccine AZD-1222 at Novasep’s Seneffe, Belgium site. The plant now belongs to Thermo Fisher (Waltham, MA, US), which acquired Novasep’s viral vector business, Henogen, for about €725M ($875M) on January 15, including a second Belgian site.
Upgrade at Brussels plant delays Pfizer doses
Pfizer (New York, NY, US) has reduced shipments of its Covid-19 vaccine to Europe and Canada while it upgrades its Puurs, Belgium plant to increase production capacity. The facility manufactures all doses of Pfizer’s vaccine intended for markets outside the US.
Pfizer announced that the delay will last several weeks from 15 January. Many governments have criticized the decision. The Italian foreign minister has threatened legal action against Pfizer, and European Council President Charles Michel told a European radio station, “We plan to make the pharmaceutical companies respect the contracts they have signed… by using the legal means at our disposal.”
Canada was set to receive no doses of the vaccine in the final week of January. The EU expects that Pfizer will have delivered 92% of what was expected in the second half of January and will make up the missing 8% during the week of 15 February, according to the Associated Press. Overall, Pfizer is contracted to provide up to 600 million doses to the EU.
Pfizer says that a small delay now will improve manufacturing speeds later this year. “We’ve explored innovative ways to increase the number of doses we’re able to supply this year, and we now believe that we can potentially deliver approximately two billion doses by the end of 2021,” the company said.
EU Looks to Bolster Future Health Response Amid Vaccine Snags. Faced with a vaccine emergency, the EU made an enemy of everyone. [ Ссылка ] AstraZeneca will deliver nine million more doses of its COVID-19 vaccine to the European Union in the first quarter of this year, making a total of 40 million for the period, and will start deliveries one week earlier than expected, the president of the European Commission said on Sunday.
The Anglo-Swedish company unexpectedly announced earlier this month that it would cut supplies to the EU of its vaccine candidate in the first quarter, sparking a row over supplies.
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“AstraZeneca will deliver 9 million additional doses in the first quarter (40 million in total) compared to last week’s offer and will start deliveries one week earlier than scheduled,” Ursula Von der Leyen, president of the European Commission wrote on Twitter. The company would expand its manufacturing capacity in Europe, she said.
Last week, the company had offered to bring forward some deliveries to the EU. It had also offered eight million more doses to the European Union to try to defuse the dispute but an EU official told Reuters that was too far short of what was originally promised as AstraZeneca had committed to at least 80 million shots in the first quarter.
Earlier on Sunday, the EU Commission president held a videoconference with CEOs of companies manufacturing vaccines and warned of the threat of coronavirus variants.
“It is crucial to prepare for the appearance of such variants,” Von der Leyen said in a statement.
Is Von der Leyen under pressure to resign as EU Commission President over vaccine debacle?
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is reportedly under pressure to resign her post, after a disastrous and shortlived decision to block vaccines traveling to the UK.
The call to block vaccines entering the UK, after a dispute with drugmaker AstraZeneca over supplies of its vaccines, would have breached the Belfast Good Friday peace agreement by creating an internal border on the island of Ireland.
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