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Original title: AstraZeneca vaccine may play a key role in ending the global epidemic, but it may be in short supply Source: Sina Finance
Following Moderna Inc. After working with Pfizer, AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford also announced the effectiveness of their new corona vaccine. Although this data does not seem so dazzling, these companies may obtain emergency use permits in the coming weeks. Pascal Soriot, CEO of AstraZeneca, said the world needs as many vaccines as possible to end the epidemic. Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca “none of them have enough capacity to meet global demand,” he said. “There is no competition, really.”
Pfizer and Moderna may have the advantage of being the first to respond to the challenges of vaccine production, because they use new messenger RNA technology and it is relatively easy to expand production. Pfizer previously stated that the vaccine jointly developed by it and BioNTech SE could produce 50 million doses by the end of this year. Moderna said it could produce about 20 million doses for the United States in January next year.
“We’ve always known that multiple vaccines will be used around the world, because no development company, no manufacturer can produce a vaccine that meets the needs of the world,” said Sarah Gilbert, a professor at the University of Oxford who leads vaccine development. . “We must consider community and population vaccination to reduce the spread of the virus among the population so that we can truly control this pandemic.”
AstraZeneca’s UK production targets have lagged behind plan. The company expects to produce 4 million doses of bottled vaccines for the UK by the end of this year, far less than the previously set target of 30 million doses ready for September.
AstraZeneca said it will produce 20 million doses of the vaccine in bulk for the UK by the end of 2020, but it will still need to be bottled. Pam Cheng, the company’s global commercial director, said that by the end of the first quarter of next year, 300 million doses of finished vaccines will be available worldwide.
Production speed is the key
AstraZeneca has been preparing and testing the vaccine for several months. It uses the harmless common cold virus to produce the coronavirus spike protein, thereby generating an immune response.
Vaccines using this technology have never been mass produced. The longest part of the production process involves growing cells in large stainless steel containers and adding them to the vaccine seed bank, which experts say will take at least three to four weeks. Then the bulk vaccine must be packaged and inspected by supervisors, which takes more time.
British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said in an interview with BBC Radio: “The speed of the vaccine deployment depends on the speed of production. Most of the launch will take place in the new year.”
If production can catch up, AstraZeneca can play a key role in ending the global epidemic. AstraZeneca has signed manufacturing agreements with many companies and governments from Japan to Russia to produce more than 3 billion doses of vaccines.
AstraZeneca and Oxford University vaccines are easier to store and transport because they only need to be refrigerated, while Moderna and Pfizer mRNA vaccines must be frozen.
AstraZeneca says its vaccines cost between $ 4-5 per dose. This can be one of the cheapest vaccines, making it an option for poorer countries.
