Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines approved for booster scheme
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Pascal Soriot, CEO of AstraZeneca, told reporters on Friday the company will transition from the non-profit model adopted at the height of the Covid pandemic. As one of the first companies to develop an effective jab against the coronavirus, AstraZeneca has vowed to sell the vaccine at cost. However, the promise hinged on the premise that the company would start to draw a modest profit from its product once COVID-19 was no longer deemed a pandemic.
The drugs giant, which developed the vaccine alongside the University of Oxford, had previously said fighting the virus was a “top priority” for global health.
Mr Soriot has now announced the company’s new direction, sparking a wave of criticism from the charity Oxfam.
He said: “We started this project to help… but we also said that at some stage in the future, we will transition to commercial orders.
“It will never be high priced. Because we want the vaccine to remain affordable to everybody around the world.”
Mr Soriot added the virus has become endemic, echoing warnings that Covid infections are unlikely to ever go away, much like the flu.
But his comments have come under fire from Oxfam’s health policy manager, Anna Marriott.
She said: “AstraZeneca is breaking its repeated and celebrated public promises of a non-profit vaccine for all countries for the duration of this pandemic and to never to make a profit in any low- and middle-income country from this publicly funded vaccine.
“It is turning its back on these commitments at a time when the pandemic still rages and 98 per cent of people in the poorest countries are not yet fully vaccinated.
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“While AstraZeneca has said the vaccine will remain non-profit for developing nations, we understand that 75 middle-income countries including Indonesia, The Philippines, South Africa and Zimbabwe are excluded from their commitment.”
Ms Marriot called on the company to “immediately and unequivocally” confirm that it will not make a profit from vaccine sales in any low or middle-income country.
She added: “With the number of people dying from COVID-19 rapidly rising above five million and given the development of this vaccine was 97 per cent funded by taxpayers and charities there can be no justification for this decision.”
As of November 11, World Health Organization (WHO) data indicates more than 7.1 billion Covid vaccines have been administered worldwide.
Earlier this summer it was reported AstraZeneca’s vaccine has brought in about £900million ($1.2billion) in the first six months of the year.
The figures were announced towards the end of July, after rival drugmaker, Pfizer said it had made £5.8billion ($7.8billion) from its own vaccine.
And in the first nine months of 2021, AstraZeneca said it had supplied about £1.6billion ($2.22billion) of the jab, or about 580 million doses.
With the inclusion of sub-licensing partners, the company has released more than 1.5 billion vaccines globally, as of September 30.
Mr Soriot said: “AstraZeneca’s scientific leadership continues to provide strong revenue growth and exceptional pipeline delivery, with eight positive late-stage readouts across seven medicines since June, including our long-acting antibody combination showing promise in both prevention and treatment of COVID-19.
“The addition of Alexion furthers our commitment to bring transformative therapies to patients around the world, and I am proud of our colleagues’ ongoing dedication and focus.”
In an earnings report published on Friday, AstraZeneca claimed its revenues had risen by 50 percent in the year’s third quarter.
Express.co.uk has asked AstraZeneca to comment.
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