2024-05-10 17:48:09
Due to a lack of demand, Astrazeneca is no longer producing and delivering its corona vaccine. Ema does not issue any new approval.
The British pharmaceutical company Astrazeneca is withdrawing its corona vaccine from the market for economic reasons. There is now a surplus of vaccines against the coronavirus and this has led to a decline in demand for the drug Vaxzevria, the company said. The vaccine will therefore “no longer be manufactured or delivered”.
Surplus of vaccines
On Tuesday, the European Medicines Agency (Ema) announced on its website that the market approval for the drug had been withdrawn at the manufacturer’s request. Astrazeneca was one of the first manufacturers to bring a corona vaccine onto the market. This is a type of vaccine based on vector viruses that has previously been approved against other diseases.
A number of vaccines now exist, particularly the mRNA vaccine from Biontech/Pfizer has been successful. Very rare cases of blood clots following administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine have led people to turn to other vaccines in recent years. After the strict pandemic rules were lifted worldwide, demand for the AstraZeneca vaccine fell significantly again. According to informed sources, there have been no sales for “some time.”
Three billion doses were vaccinated during the pandemic
According to its own statements, the British company has already started taking the drug off the market in Europe, the Middle East and the Arab region. The company wants to work with other authorities to initiate the withdrawal of marketing authorization in places where commercial demand for Vaxzevria is no longer expected in the future.
At the same time, the company was “incredibly proud” of having contributed to combating the corona pandemic and saving lives. Over three billion vaccine doses were delivered worldwide during the pandemic. But now Astrazeneca wants to “close this chapter”.