As AstraZeneca expects European authorization for its COVID-19 vaccine, the drugmaker has informed officials that initial shipments will be lighter than originally expected.
Two German-language publications, Bild and ue24, report that AZ informed EU officials this week that deliveries in the first quarter will be lower than originally expected. A spokesman for AstraZeneca attributed the decline to ‘reduced yields at a manufacturing site in our European supply chain. ‘
“We will supply tens of millions of doses to the European Union in February and March as we continue to increase production volumes,” she said.
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The news comes after AstraZeneca applied earlier this month for European authorization of its vaccination with Oxford partnership. According to reports, the company’s vaccine could get European approval by the end of January. So far, the Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines have achieved European lights.
In a Phase 3 trial, AstraZeneca’s vaccine was 70% effective, but a dosing error in some participants resulted in a higher efficacy result. For trial participants who received half a dose, followed by a full dose, the efficacy was 90%. For those receiving two full doses, the efficacy was 62%. The results raised questions about the vaccine and prompted AZ to conduct another trial.
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Meanwhile, the UK drugmaker’s dose reduction in the first quarter contributes to the pain of reduced delivery of the Pfizer / BioNTech delivery in the EU this week as companies work to increase manufacturing capacity. Some countries have fallen behind after the slowdown, though manufacturers say a factory upgrade will allow them to make many more doses by 2021.