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The AstraZeneca vaccine is expected to be overseas as they leave the UK

When Pascal Soriot unveiled AstraZeneca’s a new method of vaccination he could not hide his anger. After pushing his company forward in the fight against Covid by creating a low-cost risk, the official looked disappointed that he was not receiving the best he could expect.

“I know some people find it hard to believe but we really started the project to help,” he told reporters last week.

The Anglo-Swedish pharmacist initially denied the benefits on 2bn vaccine was created by Oxford University, where competitors were throwing billions. This year it has lost profits on the 3 cent vaccine per unit.

But barriers, ranging from delayed delivery to abnormal results and less energy than mRNA jabs, have found the wrong heads. Last week, Soriot appeared to be criticizing himself for his criticism after announcing that the company would make “low” value. in high-income and middle-income countries, where the vaccine still retains benefits for the poorest.

“We also said that at some point in the future, we will change [to] “but it will not be expensive because we want the vaccine to be affordable for everyone in the world,” he said.

Criticism soon followed: campaigners questioned why the company changed the “Covid endemic” approach, when the epidemic did not end. Mr Soriot said he had consulted with experts before making the call but people familiar with the matter said it did not include the World Health Organization.

The big question for the future of the AstraZeneca vaccine is: who should buy it?

The US has not yet agreed and the EU has a major plan with Pfizer to roll out in 2023. Even its home country, the UK, has left the AstraZeneca shooting: while it has been running almost 50m in total, the data reporting security report compares. in the three months to the beginning of November more than 400,000 AstraZeneca shots were released.

“It helped us in the first phase of release but the AstraZeneca vaccine has now run out in the UK,” said Prof Azeem Majeed, head of the health department at Imperial College London.

Except for the promotional campaign

AstraZeneca’s most recent tragedy came when the UK decided to use Pfizer to boost its campaign, even though it had a multi-million dollar plan for their shooting, known as Vaxzevria. It was a major change for the government that celebrated the shooting as the best in Britain and invested in state funds to help make this possible.

In February, donations split sharply between AstraZeneca and Pfizer but by September, the amount had changed dramatically to the US medical team, which accounted for 92 percent of the amount reached, according to healthcare company Airfinity. About 600,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine have already been discarded, though it was less than what health officials say.

Chief Executive Officer Pascal Soriot
Chief executive Pascal Soriot says jab ‘is not going to be expensive because we want the vaccine to be cheaper for everyone in the world’ © Charlie Bibby / FT

The Vaccination and Immunization Committee, the government advisory body, selected Pfizer and Moderna as the preferred vaccine campaign in the UK, based on part of a study that found success in giving AstraZeneca recipients Pfizer level, and other relevant information. side effects. A source familiar with the discussion stated that the consultants did not want to advise AstraZeneca to receive the Pfizer vaccine from people who had already received Pfizer because there was no reason to place a possible risk from the first jab of AstraZeneca.

Experts inside AstraZeneca said the senior resentment at the dismissal was exacerbated because they received little or no warning. Although it was not a “segment”, he expected his company to do a campaign segment with the mRNA vaccine, one person said.

The English chart shows that AstraZeneca offers less protection than mRNA vaccine

Boris Johnson, Britain’s prime minister and AstraZeneca jab enthusiast, also complained about his dismissal, two people said. Johnson publicly praised his Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro for his visit to the country a few days later and the announcement would not take part in a promising broadcast in the UK.

Some within the company believe he may have been led by a major government project by Pfizer. A person close to the vaccine project agreed with the government’s idea of ​​buying an extra 60m Pfizer in April, saying it should be used before it is too late to confirm the use of government funds.

The government claims that the use of Pfizer and Moderna promotional program “was recommended by independent JCVI” after a short period of testing which it found to provide excellent protection.

The AstraZeneca vaccine “played a key role in the introduction of our vaccine, protecting millions of people and saving lives and will continue to use our vaccine program for over 40 people,” it added.

Preliminary study results may not prove that Pfizer is the best motivator. Under the selected program, the third dose was given 10 to 12 weeks after the second to produce results at the end of the summer. Clive Dix, a former chairman of the UK immunization team, said this would make mRNAs look better because they provide “early response”.

External opportunity

However, Soriot and his team are now looking forward to the opportunity to continue in the UK, believing that their vaccine could be a boon to middle-income countries, the limited commercial opportunities offered by the UK Vaccine campaign, according to one person. close to the discussion. The man described the UK’s efforts as a “side show”, adding that Soriot “looked more closely at the global market than at Mary’s in Maidenhead receiving a boosting shot”.

One of the UK’s top executives, who knew firsthand, acknowledged that AstraZeneca “has no future in the UK” but said: “There is a future for AZ in the world because it is easy to deal with and not bad. Vaccines.”

AstraZeneca recently signed its first agreements for the benefits of the vaccine but did not say which countries are on the other side of the agreements. The company hopes to find the most sought-after buyers in China-vaccinated countries, which appear to be ineffective, especially against the Delta Covid brand.

Soriot cited a major Latin American study who said he had shown “very strong” results when using AstraZeneca as a boost after CoronaVac, a Chinese-made Sinovac shot. Sinovac has delivered 2.1bn shots so far, according to healthcare company Airfinity, with Indonesia, Turkey and Brazil receiving the highest ratings outside of China.

Delivery of Pfizer vaccine to a hospital in London
Delivery of Pfizer vaccine to a hospital in London. The AstraZeneca vaccine sells for about $ 3 to $ 4, compared to $ 22 in Pfizer’s most recent deals © Henry Nicholls / Reuters

Although large, this is not an attractive market especially for investors, who are hungry for AstraZeneca products and pipelines in expensive areas such as oncology, and large markets like China.

The AstraZeneca vaccine is currently on sale for about $ 3 to $ 4, compared to about $ 22 in Pfizer’s most recent deals. The British company did not specify the meaning of the “low” profit but Soriot was clearly below the 20 percent threshold for Pfizer. AstraZeneca must also pay Oxford 6 percent of sales.

Credit Suisse predicts that AstraZeneca will make $ 1bn from Covid vaccine next year – compared to the $ 29bn Pfizer that already booked contracts in 2022 – a small portion of the UK’s predicted $ 42bn.

Although AstraZeneca is beginning to split to include jab and other viral respiratory infections, experts do not believe that this is the beginning of a major vaccine investment. Jo Walton, an expert at Credit Suisse, said the new deal was a “time-consuming” approach.

If they continued to do bad things, they would still ask, ‘How long are you going to keep doing this?’ and they have to make a decision, ”he said.

Over time, new long-term studies that show AstraZeneca vaccine make a positive impression on people with mRNA vaccines, or there may be ways to use the company’s expertise in other areas, Walton said.

“I think we’re just waiting to see if the vaccine segment in the business will do something bigger over time,” he added.


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