AZN Stock Up 2%, AstraZeneca Gets $1B for Oxford University’s Coronavirus Vaccine

UTC by Teuta Franjkovic · 3 min read
AZN Stock Up 2%, AstraZeneca Gets $1B for Oxford University’s Coronavirus Vaccine
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The U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority has given AstraZeneca more than $1 billion in funding for the coronavirus vaccine. AZN stock is up.

The United States decided to back up one of the fastest-moving experimental solutions to the COVID-19 epidemic, giving approximately $1.2 billion to AstraZeneca Plc (NYSE: AZN) to help make the University of Oxford’s COVID vaccine.

Beleaguered by publicly criticizing his answers to the COVID-19 outbreak, U.S. President Donald Trump is doing everything in order to stand at the frontlines of this battle. The U.S. has supported ongoing projects at Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), Moderna Inc (NASDAQ: MRNA) and France’s pharma giant Sanofi SA (NASDAQ: SNA), boosting worries that other parts of the world could trail.

As companies and governments are putting money into the evolution of a vaccine, that everybody is looking at as some magic potion that will end all lockdowns that have ruined economies around the world, stock markets are twirling on developments in research labs. Astra, Sanofi and other pharma firms have secured funding even as their candidates for a protective punch are still in trials, with no guarantee that this will succeed in any way.

Operation Warp Speed for AstraZeneca Vaccine

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar stated:

“The U.S. is making multiple major investments in developing and manufacturing promising vaccines long before they’re approved so that a successful vaccine will reach the American people without a day wasted.”

According to him, the funding for AstraZeneca is a piece of the Operation Warp Speed effort to secure vaccines for the U.S. The country expects 300 million doses to be ready already in October.

The U.K. drugmaker got the money from the U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority and noted it has secured capacity to make at least one billion doses.

However, later Sanofi stated that its vaccine would be available to everyone who needs it. Hudson confirmed the French company is negotiating with several governments on possible arrangements.

Equal Right on the Vaccine Is Necessary

David Heymann, a professor of infectious disease epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine claims that even though it is positive that countries like the U.S. are contributing to vaccine development, the only way to move on from the pandemic is to ensure equal access to a shot.

AstraZeneca will primarily focus on U.K. supply, said its CEO Pascal Soriot. Astra plans to make as many as 30 million doses available in Britain by September and has pledged to deliver 100 million this year.

From the company they said they are working with groups including the World Health Organization, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, on making sure the vaccine is allocated on a fair basis. The company said it has supply agreements for 400 million doses.

AstraZeneca (AZN) rose by 2.21% to $54.97 at the time of writing. The company stated that the U.S. funding will support a final-stage clinical trial with 30,000 participants, as well as tests in children.

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