A future coronavirus vaccine may need to be administered every 12 months, pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca warned Thursday.
The British firm is just one company working on a possible coronavirus vaccine. On Thursday, he said that late-stage trials are taking place in the United Kingdom, Brazil and South Africa and will soon begin in the United States as well. These tests aim to verify how the immune system responds to the vaccine. Earlier this month, its vaccine, which is being developed by the University of Oxford, produced a “promising” immune response in large early-stage human trials.
Due to the unpredictability of Covid-19, the pharmaceutical company raised the possibility that more than one injection will be needed in the future, if its work is successful.
“What we know is that most companies target two injections for the initial vaccination and then our own assumption based on what we know of the technology we use with SARS 1 is that immunity could last 12 months, maybe 18 months, “Pascal Soriot, the chief executive of AstraZeneca, told CNBC’s” Squawk Box Europe “.
“But the truth is, we don’t know, this virus is very unpredictable,” he added.
The company has reached agreements to distribute its potential Covid-19 vaccine in different parts of the world. In June, for example, it reached an agreement with the Inclusive Vaccines Alliance of Europe, supported by Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands, to supply up to 400 million doses. Its goal is to produce 2 billion total, including 400 million doses for the US and the UK, and 1 billion for low- and middle-income countries.
“We have established independent supply chains with each other,” Soriot told CNBC, reaffirming his commitment to provide his work worldwide.
“If it works, we will be able to start supplying the vaccine in October, November and our goal is to supply everyone around the world at the same time,” he said.
AstraZeneca reported higher product sales and revenues on Thursday during the second quarter of the year. The company registered growth in each therapeutic area, as well as in the geographical region. Shares were trading 2% higher in the morning session on the UK FTSE 100 Index.
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