AstraZeneca says its Oxford vaccine deal allows it to add up to 20% of
manufacturing costs
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[October 24, 2020] By
Kanishka Singh
(Reuters) - AstraZeneca Plc <AZN.L> said on
Friday its coronavirus vaccine deal with Oxford University will allow it
to add up to 20% of manufacturing costs to cover additional expenses
required to be incurred by the British drugmaker.
"In addition to the manufacturing costs, the company is incurring costs
in excess of $1 billion globally that include clinical development,
regulatory, distribution, pharmacovigilance and other expenses", an
AstraZeneca spokesman said in a statement.
"To cover these additional expenses, the company will add an amount
equivalent to a maximum of 20% of the manufacturing costs to ensure
there is no material impact on its finances this year while continuing
efforts to provide the vaccine at no profit during the pandemic," the
statement added.
AstraZeneca has previously signed multiple supply-and-manufacture deals
for more than 3 billion doses globally.
These agreements are with companies and governments as the company gets
closer to reporting early results of a late-stage clinical trial.
Developed by the University of Oxford and licensed to AstraZeneca in
April, the vaccine is expected to be one of the first from big pharma to
secure regulatory approval.
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The company logo for pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca is
displayed on a screen on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange
(NYSE) in New York, U.S., April 8, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File
Photo
The company had said earlier it has created multiple supply chains to ensure
that access to its vaccine is timely, broad and equitable for high- and
low-income countries alike.
Pricing and supply of experimental COVID-19 vaccines have been widely debated as
richer countries pump billions of dollars into funding, and AstraZeneca has also
been granted protection from future liability claims.
Separately, AstraZeneca resumed the U.S. trial of its experimental COVID-19
vaccine after approval by regulators, the company said on Friday.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh; editing by Grant McCool)
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