According to people familiar with the matter, AstraZeneca PLC threatens to deliver tens of thousands less doses of Covid-19 vaccine to the European Union in the coming months.
AstraZeneca announced the shortfall late Friday after informing European officials earlier in the day. It blames a manufacturing problem in Europe, but does not disclose the extent of the shortfall.
According to people familiar with the matter, the company told European officials that in the worst case scenario, AstraZeneca could only supply about 30 million of the approximately 80 million doses that EU countries provided in February and March, a decrease of about 60% of the company’s earlier estimates. AstraZeneca is working to significantly reduce the potential shortage, saying the approximately 30 million doses are the minimum it should be able to deliver, these people said.
The cause of the problem is a manufacturing facility in Belgium owned by Novasep Holding SAS, which was unable to make as much vaccine as predicted, the people said. One of the people says the so-called yield of the facility, or the amount of vaccine it can make from basic ingredients, is about a third of AstraZeneca’s expectations. Novasep did not respond to requests for comment on Saturday.
Vaccine yields can vary widely, depending on the “boring” steps taken over weeks, to grow cells needed to make the vaccine, and later-stage processes to filter and purify the substance. before being packaged in vials. AstraZeneca has found that yields vary among its numerous manufacturing partners and has worked to increase production where it lags behind, the person said. The process is labor and time intensive. Reuters first reported that the number of doses that AstraZeneca may no longer be able to deliver.