The controversy over AstraZeneca’s agreement to supply COVID-19 vaccines to the EU intensified on Wednesday, while the European Commission accused the pharmaceutical giant of violating a ‘binding commitment’.
AstraZeneca has denied withdrawing from a scheduled meeting with EU officials. The company says it plans to meet with EU officials in Brussels later Wednesday, refuting earlier reports.
The comments come after EU officials said the company withdrew from the meeting to discuss delayed vaccine commitments to the bloc. The talks are expected to be the third in as many days.
“We can confirm that AstraZeneca accepted an invitation earlier this morning to attend a meeting of the EC Steering Committee later today. Reports that this is not the case are inaccurate,” AstraZeneca said in a statement to Euronews was delivered.
European Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said the EU had given investment in exchange for a ‘binding commitment’ to produce vaccines before they were approved.
“To not be able to ensure that the manufacturing capacity is against the letter and spirit of our agreement,” she told a news conference on Wednesday afternoon.
AstraZeneca denies violating the terms of its contract with the EU, after revealing that the planned stock should be cut by 60% compared to the levels it has agreed to. It blames errors in production.
The dispute highlights tensions over the vaccine supply as Europe struggles to set up vaccination programs against the coronavirus.
The French firm Sanofi has separately pledged to help with the production of vaccines by promoting the distribution of vaccines produced by rival manufacturers Pfizer and BioNTech.
EU ‘ready to publish AstraZeneca contract’
The EU is prepared to publish its contract with AstraZeneca if the company agrees, said Shona Murray, Euronews’ correspondent.
The source added that the EU expects the company to do its utmost to produce vaccine dosages, as set out in the agreement. Plants outside the EU should be used to compensate for the shortage.
Earlier, an EU official said he would speak anonymously that the EU would insist on returning to the negotiating table to declare the delay in delivery once the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine has been approved for use by the European Medicines Agency.
The Commission has stated that it is seeking “more explicit” reasons from AstraZeneca to explain the reduction in production, and that it wants the issue resolved now.
The EU registration date gave ‘less time’ to solve problems
On Tuesday night, Astrazeneca’s boss slammed the European Union’s criticism over plans that would lead to a major shortage of supplies, saying he had only signed up to make the best effort to deliver.
“Our contract is not a contractual commitment. It’s a best effort. We basically said we were going to try our best, but we can not guarantee that we will succeed. In fact, getting there, we are a bit delayed, ”said CEO Pascal Soriot.
The comments come in an interview given to LENA (Leading European Newspaper Alliance) on Tuesday and published in European newspapers.
Soriot added that the EU had ordered its supplies to the UK for three months, giving less time to resolve production issues.
He said there were also a number of start-up problems in the UK supply chain, but ‘the UK contract was signed three months before the EU contract. So with the UK, we had another three months to solve the problems’.
The CEO also insisted that his company “certainly does not take vaccines from Europeans to sell them elsewhere at a profit”.
The lab, along with Oxford University, has vowed not to make a profit from selling vaccines during the pandemic.
While the EU’s green light for this vaccine is expected on Friday, the British laboratory announced last week that deliveries in the first quarter would be lower than expected due to a “drop in production” at a European manufacturing site.
It relates to up to 400 million doses of the AstraZeneca / Oxford vaccine, which has the advantage of being cheaper to produce than its competitors, while being easier to store and transport.
Brussels on Monday set its tone in its departure from AstraZeneca, which considers the delays in the delivery of its COVID-19 vaccine unacceptable. The European Commission is now demanding “transparency” on EU exports of doses produced in the block.
The slowdown in production has worried EU countries, already on track for problems with the delivery of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. This increases the pressure on the European Commission, which negotiated the pre-order contracts on behalf of the EU27.
Sanofi enters
French drugmaker Sanofi has helped ease the panic over the lack of COVID-19 vaccinations in the EU. From July, Sanofi will fill and package the vaccines manufactured by rival manufacturers Pfizer and BioNtech in an effort to meet the huge demand.
CEO Paul Hudson said the company wants to help deliver more than 100 million doses of its German plant in Frankfurt this year.
The French government has urged Sanofi to use its facilities to make vaccines from its competitors, given the huge demand and problems with the stock of the single vaccines already available.
Last month, Sanofi and the British GlaxoSmithKline said that a vaccine they were developing together showed an inadequate immune response in older people, which delayed the launch until late this year.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday reiterated a call for vaccine manufacturers to deliver on schedule.
“Europe has invested billions to develop the world’s first COVID-19 vaccines,” she said at the World Economic Forum’s virtual event in Switzerland. ‘And now the businesses have to deliver. They must fulfill their obligations. ‘
The Commission raised the possibility of strict export controls on doses in the block in its demands for more information on vaccine production.
“Let me just emphasize that the most important word here is: transparency. It’s not about blocking. It’s about knowing – what the companies are exporting or exporting to markets outside the European Union,” said Commission spokesman Eric Mamer. , said.
The slow distribution of vaccines in Europe has led Hungary to order doses from Russia, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó told Euronews this week.
Meanwhile, the operation in Germany provoked criticism from the governor of Bavaria, Markus Soeder.
“I think the people of Europe are extremely stressed and tired by this year-long pandemic. Governments are under pressure,” AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot added in an interview, saying that Europe ‘what 5 percent of the world represents population, 17 percent of our production will be acquired in February.
Soriot also confirmed in his interview that the laboratory ‘is working with the University of Oxford on a vaccine targeting the South African variant of COVID-19, a virus that is more transmissible than the first version of the new coronavirus.