Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca today closed its first agreements to produce 400 million doses of its vaccine for Covid-19, which is in the testing phase, prompted by an investment by the US vaccine agency.
The Anglo-Swedish firm said it has received more than $ 1 billion from the US Authority for Advanced Research and Development in Biomedicine to work on the development, production and supply of the vaccine starting this fall.
The investment will accelerate the development and production of the vaccine, said AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot. The company was already collaborating with the British government.
“We will do everything in our power to make this vaccine quick and widely available,” he said.
Pharmaceuticals like Moderna and Sanofi are working against the clock to develop and produce a vaccine against the new coronavirus, which experts say would be crucial in allowing countries to ease their quarantines and restrictions on public life.
In a statement to the opening of markets, AstraZeneca said that it had achieved manufacturing capacity for a billion doses and that it hoped to achieve more agreements to further expand that capacity in the coming months, “to guarantee the delivery of a globally accessible vaccine” .
The company also completed its license with Oxford University for the vaccine, now known as AZD1222.
The drug was developed by the Jenner Institute at the University of Oxford, which works with the Oxford Vaccine Group.
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