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Brussels, 3 September 2020 – En rise in coronavirus cases in Italy That’s in the world, from Europe comes good news: the Covid-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca should come “to market” in next “november”. This was pointed out by a senior official of the European Commission, who recently signed a contract with the pharmaceutical company.
Yesterday also the Italian Minister of Health Roberto Speranza he had said that the first doses of the ‘European vaccine’ would be available soon, but as a precaution he said “before the end of the year.” Hope said today: “We are investing heavily in the vaccine because we believe that it is the true solution that Italy, Europe and all the countries of the world are working on. We have built an alliance, particularly with Germany, France and Holland, to reinforce the European proposal in the field of vaccines and we are convinced that all the attempts that the scientific world is making can, in a time that we hope will be as short as possible, give results ”.
The vaccine contract
Therefore, the European Commission accelerates the anti-Covid vaccine, with the first availability for the member countries scheduled for November, and in theuniversal access to drugs. For the vaccine, known as Oxford, the Commission has signed a contract that allows member countries to buy 300 million doses with an option for another 100.
The Commission and the ‘vaccine candidates’
The Commission, explains the senior EU official, is trying to “minimize the risk of not buying an effective vaccine” by working on a “portfolio” of candidates, even if contracts are negotiated “only with companies that are at a stage advanced “. because time is also valuable in the vaccine race, given the huge “costs” that shutdowns bring, a measure governments turn to when the pandemic spirals out of control.
In addition to time, the price also counts, because, he explains again, “we cannot have prices that deprive the Member States of the vaccine”.
AstraZeneca and others
The Commission “has signed a contract with AstraZeneca, the first”. Here “we have a vaccine that will hit the market, I would say in November, which is very good. It is very good, it is one of the first,” continues the senior EU official. The Commission is in an “advanced stage” of negotiations with Sanofi, Johnson & Johnson, CureVac e Moderna. “We hope to start the acquisitions stage with Biontech, we are almost at the end. “
The executive headed by Ursula von der Leyen also thinks of a “platform” logic, because “we have different types of vaccines: we have tried to diversify the different technologies. Astrazeneca’s is what is called a adenovaccino. If you remember the Ebola virus, you will have more or less an idea of what type of vaccine it is. “In practice, as explained by the Veronesi Foundation, adenoviruses capable of mimicking the ‘spike’ protein of the Sars-CoV-2 coronavirus are used, that uses them to penetrate cells.
In the portfolio “we have another vaccine of this type, with Johnson & Johnson, with which we will soon sign a contract. Then we have Sanofi, which uses more traditional technology,” he added. There are also “three very modern vaccines based on mRNA (messenger RNA, RNA or ribonucleic acid, messenger) in the portfolio: unfortunately today we do not have any vaccine with that technology, but it is the future and it is worth investing”.
The names here are CureVac, Moderna, and Biontech. In this case, portions of the mRNA necessary to make the “spike” protein against which the immune response is to be mounted are injected.
Dosage and Member States
Ownership of the doses “will belong to the Member States: we pay the advance”, which is necessary “for companies to bear the risk”. The Advance Purchase Contracts that the Commission signs with the pharmaceutical companies involved in the development of the vaccine, provide, among other things, an indemnity for the coverage of possible civil liability related to the use of the vaccine.
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