By
Bena Ilyas
March 11th, 2024
AstraZeneca (AZN) stock up rose by about 4% after the news that President Trump is reportedly ready to give the AZN-Oxford developed AZD1222 vaccine an Emergency Use Authorization Status.
The shares of British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca Plc (LON: AZN) is up by about 4% following reports that President Donald Trump is considering fast-tracking the drug manufacturer’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate, in order to make it available to Americans before the November election.
Per the reports, President Trump aims to get the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to award AstraZeneca’s vaccine candidate an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) status. The vaccine which is currently under development in partnership with Oxford University researchers has been declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) as one of the leading COVID-19 candidates alongside Moderna Inc (NASDAQ: MRNA).
The team of scientists from AstraZeneca’s labs and Oxford University reported that the vaccine produced a “strong immune response” in Phase I/II trial results in July. The vaccine is now in large-scale Phase II/III trials, which includes a trial of 30,000 people in the U.S., a pediatric study, and trials in low-to-middle income countries, such as Brazil and South Africa. The company said it did not expect efficacy results until later this year.
With notable positive results from clinical trials, President Trump’s confidence in the COVID-19 vaccine has soared. As MarketWatch reported, the U.S. struck a deal with the drug manufacturer in May that would make 300 million doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine available to Americans, with the first being delivered in October. The U.S. Biomedical Research and Development Authority gave the project more than $1 billion in funding as part of the deal.
The news of Emergency Use Authorization has not been confirmed as MarketWatch quoted the spokesperson for the London-listed pharmaceutical giant as saying:
“AstraZeneca has not discussed emergency-use authorization with the U.S. government, and it would be premature to speculate on that possibility.”
While in anticipation of approval from the FDA, it is worthy to bear in mind that AstraZeneca has detailed that the AZD 1222 may require annual vaccination. Meanwhile, AZN share price rallied about 3.99% adding 337 GBX in the intraday trading hours as market bulls jump on the promising news. At the time of writing, AZN stock is 2.60% up, trading at 8,659 GBX.
Vaccine from AZN and Other Candidates Backed By Trump
The President Trump Administration has shown immense support for most COVID-19 vaccine candidates including AZD1222 from AstraZeneca (AZN) in furtherance of its Operation Warp Speed Project.
While the notoriously acclaimed viral disease had taken a huge toll on the world economy without sparing that of the US, a tremendous investment has been made to ensure the government gets control of the vaccine irrespective of the company who debuts it.
Besides the funding extended to AstraZeneca, the Trump administration also inked a $1.525 billion deal with Moderna (MRNA) for the supply of 100 million doses of its promising mRNA-1273 vaccine.
The United States government also secured a stake in the COVID-19 vaccine being developed by the duo of Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE) and BioNTech SE (NASDAQ: BNTX) for the supply of 100 million doses and an additional 500 million at a later date.
The deal with PFE and BNTX is valued at $1.95 billion and represents one of the moves by the Trump administration to stay well invested in making good its Operation Warp Speed Project a success. While each of these companies and more have their individual strides with respect to the development of the coronavirus vaccine, none has issued a statement to give an outright confirmation as to when its vaccine will be available.
