AstraZeneca breaks non-profit promise and starts to make money from vaccine

AstraZeneca has said it will begin to earn a modest profit, causing people to claim it has broken its promise of being a non-for-profit in the fight against Covid.

AstraZeneca (AZN.L) has said it will begin to earn a modest profit, causing people to claim it has broken its promise of being a non-for-profit in the fight against Covid, with the drugmaker now in talks with several countries about new orders for 2022.

During a press conference today, November 12, AstraZeneca committed to low-income nations continuing to receive the doses on a non-profit basis, however, a post-pandemic commercial approach will apply to new orders – with cases rising in Europe.

“We started this project to help… but we also said that at some stage in the future, we will transition to commercial orders,” Chief Executive Pascal Soriot told journalists.

“It will never be high priced. Because we want the vaccine to remain affordable to everybody around the world,” he added.

Soriot said the virus is becoming endemic, meaning that the level of infections is a part of everyday life.

According to Soriot, the company is in talks with undisclosed countries about new orders that will mostly be delivered in 2022, with some countries focusing on booster shots.

This week, AstraZeneca announced plans to set up a separate unit that will focus on fighting Covid and other respiratory infections. Today it said that this unit will independently manage distribution and production.

Thank you for taking the time to read this article, do remember to come back and check The Euro Weekly News website for all your up-to-date local and international news stories and remember, you can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram.