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AstraZeneca aims to speed up COVID-19 vaccine tweaks as variants spread

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Published Feb. 11, 2021, 9:28 a.m. ET

AstraZeneca said it’s trying to speed up the process of adapting its COVID-19 vaccine to the different coronavirus strains that have emerged around the world.

The statement Thursday came amid concerns that the British drugmaker’s shot does not work as well against the variant that was first identified in South Africa.

In its annual earnings report, AstraZeneca said it’s working with University of Oxford researchers to adapt the vaccine “to new disease strains if required.”

The Cambridge, UK-based company “hopes to reduce the time needed to reach production at scale to between six to nine months, by utilizing existing clinical data and optimizing its established supply chain,” it said.

Mene Pangalos, AstraZeneca’s research and development head, said the company started addressing the variants “weeks and months ago” and is hoping to start new clinical trials in the spring after picking the strongest adapted vaccine candidates, according to the Financial Times.

A nurse vaccinates 54-year-old ophthalmologist Marco Buglione with the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine at Rome's Leonardo Da Vinci Fiumicino Airport in Italy.
A nurse vaccinates 54-year-old ophthalmologist Marco Buglione with the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine at Rome’s Leonardo Da Vinci Fiumicino Airport in Italy. Telenews/EPA

The vaccine AstraZeneca developed with Oxford researchers was expected to provide a boon for inoculation efforts around the world because it’s cheaper and easier to distribute than others on the market.

But research released earlier this week showed that the shot had limited efficacy against the South African COVID-19 variant. The findings from a small-scale clinical trial led South Africa to pause its rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

A World Health Organization panel nevertheless said Wednesday that AstraZeneca vaccine should be recommended for use as its benefits outweigh its risks.

AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot said he was confident the shot would play an important role in the battle against the coronavirus pandemic despite the hiccups. The company also pledged to double its vaccine supplies to more than 200 million doses a month by April.

“Is it perfect? No it’s not perfect, but it’s great,” Soriot said on a Thursday conference call. “Who else is making 100 million doses in February?”

AstraZeneca’s US-listed shares were up about 1.1 percent at $50.51 in premarket trading as of 8:03 a.m. Thursday.

With Post wires