Anglo-Swedish pharmacist AstraZeneca said on Thursday that it could take six to nine months to produce vaccines against Covid-19 that are effective against new variants of the virus, according to The Guardian.
In announcing its financial results for 2020 this Thursday, the company said that «in collaboration with the University of Oxford, AstraZeneca is focused on adapting the C19VAZ [a sua vacina] new strains of disease, if necessary ‘.
In addition, the pharmaceutical company said that “it expects that the time needed to reach scale production will be reduced to between six and nine months, using existing clinical data and optimizing its supply chain”.
The company’s vaccine, developed in conjunction with scientists at the University of Oxford, remains effective against at least one variant of the virus, first discovered in Kent, UK, however, an updated vaccine to combat these mutations would represent a major improvement over traditional vaccine development schedules.
The vaccine is particularly important for the poorest countries, because the company – unlike some of its rivals, like Pfizer – has committed to selling it at cost. The vaccine also does not require very low temperatures during transport, making its application easier and less expensive.
AstraZeneca achieved a net profit of 3,144 million dollars (2,592 million euros) in 2020, 159% more than in the previous year. In a statement sent today to the London Stock Exchange, the company said its profit before tax was $ 3,916 million (€ 3,228 million), an increase of 152% over the previous year.
Total revenue in 2020 reached $ 26,617 million (21,945 million euros), an increase of 9.1% compared to 2019, added the company, which highlighted the expressive revenue generated by the rapid development of new drugs, as well as advances in the production of the vaccine against covid-19.
AstraZeneca also says that earnings for the fourth quarter of last year more than tripled due to strong sales of cancer drugs. According to the company, drug sales in the fourth quarter of the year grew 11% to 7.41 billion, driven by a 24% increase in treatments for the oncology area.
Pascal Soriot, chief executive of AstraZeneca, said that “last year’s performance marked a significant step for the company. Despite the significant impact of the pandemic, we achieved revenue growth to leverage greater profit ”. “The achievements, the accelerated performance of our businesses and the progress of the Covid-19 vaccine demonstrated what we are capable of achieving”, he added.
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