AstraZeneca says vaccine against new Covid variants may take six months

AstraZeneca has said it could take between six and nine months to produce Covid-19 vaccines that are effective against new variants of the coronavirus.

The company’s vaccine, developed jointly with scientists at the University of Oxford, remains effective against at least one variant of the virus, first discovered in Kent, England, but preliminary findings in a small-scale trial prompted South Africa to limit its use while it ascertains its efficacy.

However, a six-month turnaround for an updated vaccine would represent a vast improvement over traditional vaccine development timelines.

The vaccine is particularly important for poorer countries, because the company – unlike some of its rivals such as Pfizer – has pledged to sell it at cost price. The vaccine also does not require very low temperatures during transport, making it cheaper to deliver.

Announcing its financial results for 2020 on Thursday, AstraZeneca said: “In collaboration with the University of Oxford, AstraZeneca is focused on adapting C19VAZ [its vaccine] to new disease strains if required and hopes to reduce the time needed to reach production at scale to between six to nine months, by utilising existing clinical data and optimising its established supply chain.”

AstraZeneca will not incorporate revenues from the vaccine into its financial results, but it said 2020 performance in its main profit-making business remained strong.

Revenues for the final quarter of the year rose by 11% to $7.4bn (£5.3bn), and in 2020 overall revenues increased by 9% to $26.6bn. Covid-19 vaccine sales were just $2m. AstraZeneca made profit before tax of $3.9bn for 2020.

Pascal Soriot, AstraZeneca’s chief executive, said: “The performance last year marked a significant step forward for AstraZeneca. Despite the significant impact from the pandemic, we delivered double-digit revenue growth to leverage improved profitability and cash generation.

“The consistent achievements in the pipeline, the accelerating performance of our business and the progress of the Covid-19 vaccine demonstrated what we can achieve.”