AstraZeneca searching for options for COVID-19 vaccine business

On Thursday, a senior executive said that AstraZeneca explores options for the business of its COVID-19 vaccine. He also said that it expects more precise results by the end of 2021.

Executives indicated that it was early to tell what the decision on the vaccine’s future business or the review’s outcome might be.

Despite having no previous vaccine experience, AstraZeneca accepted the offer to work with the University of Oxford on the COVID-19 vaccine.

Head of the BioPharmaceuticals business, Ruud Dobber, told Reuters that he doubts sustainability for the AstraZeneca vaccine business for the next five or ten years.

He also said that they need to open a discussion with their senior executive team and the board of AstraZeneca. Ruud Dobber noted that they are exploring different options, but it is far too early to conclude that process at this stage. He added that they might have a better view of moving forward in the next several years before the year ends.

Some issues related to the production

Production problems urged the company to stop deliveries to the European Union earlier this year. The vaccine also faced age restrictions because of its connection to rare clots. Also, it took too long to receive approval from the U.S.

Chief Executive Pascal Soriot said that he did not regret getting involved in vaccines because the company made a tremendous difference.

It delivered one billion doses worldwide, and the British government labelled it as a national success story of this Covid 19 pandemic.

Dobber said that AstraZeneca committed to delivering several million vaccine doses covering current contracts. Still, the company accepted the government’s request about supplies for 2022.

The company representative said that there are still many fundamental questions they need to answer moving forwards. Therefore, they are not in a rush to conclude what to do as a next step.