Advertisement
UK markets closed

  • FTSE 100

    7,895.85
    +18.80 (+0.24%)
     

  • FTSE 250

    19,391.30
    -59.37 (-0.31%)
     

  • AIM

    745.67
    +0.38 (+0.05%)
     

  • GBP/EUR

    1.1607
    -0.0076 (-0.65%)
     

  • GBP/USD

    1.2370
    -0.0068 (-0.55%)
     

  • Bitcoin GBP

    51,400.74
    +484.44 (+0.95%)
     

  • CMC Crypto 200

    1,374.85
    +62.23 (+4.74%)
     

  • S&P 500

    4,967.23
    -43.89 (-0.88%)
     

  • DOW

    37,986.40
    +211.02 (+0.56%)
     

  • CRUDE OIL

    83.24
    +0.51 (+0.62%)
     

  • GOLD FUTURES

    2,406.70
    +8.70 (+0.36%)
     

  • NIKKEI 225

    37,068.35
    -1,011.35 (-2.66%)
     

  • HANG SENG

    16,224.14
    -161.73 (-0.99%)
     

  • DAX

    17,737.36
    -100.04 (-0.56%)
     

  • CAC 40

    8,022.41
    -0.85 (-0.01%)
     
Property:

11 beautiful homes with glorious garden rooms

Investing in a home with a garden room will enable you to enjoy your outside space whatever the weather

Coronavirus: AstraZeneca to make 30m vaccine doses — if it works

Oscar Williams-Grut
·Senior City Correspondent, Yahoo Finance UK
Updated ·2-min read
Screen grab taken from video issued by Britain's Oxford University, showing a person being injected as part of the first human trials in the UK to test a potential coronavirus vaccine, untaken by Oxford University in England, Thursday April 23, 2020. Two volunteers have received the first vaccine trial against the COVID-19 Coronavirus on Thursday. (Oxford University Pool via AP)
Screen grab taken from video issued by Britain's Oxford University, showing a person being injected as part of the first human trials in the UK to test a potential coronavirus vaccine. (Oxford University Pool via AP)

FTSE 100 drug giant AstraZeneca (AZN.L) is lined up to make as many as 30 million doses of a potential COVID-19 vaccine if ongoing trials prove the drug to be effective.

UK business secretary Alok Sharma said on Sunday that AstraZeneca would make up to 30 million doses of an Oxford University-developed drug by September. The drugs giant has agreed to make 100 million doses in total.

The vaccine, known as ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, is being developed by the Jenner Institute and Oxford Vaccine Group at the University of Oxford. Clinical trials began in April with early results coming as soon as this month.

Details of the production partnership between AstraZeneca and Oxford University had previously been announced but Sunday marked the first time production goals had been shared.

ADVERTISEMENT

“Our scientists are at the forefront of vaccine development,” business secretary Sharma said in a statement. “This deal with AstraZeneca means that if the Oxford University vaccine works, people in the UK will get the first access to it, helping to protect thousands of lives.”

The business secretary announced £65.5m in new funding for the Oxford trials, alongside £18.5m for researchers at Imperial College London.

AstraZeneca chief executive Pascal Soriot thanked the government for its support in a statement and said he was “proud” to be working with Oxford on vaccine development.

Sir John Bell, Regius Professor of Medicine at Oxford University, said in a statement: “We now have a partner in AstraZeneca who are ideally positioned to help us evaluate the vaccine, manufacture it and distribute it to UK citizens as well as to the rest of the world.

“They share our commitment to true global access to end this pandemic.”

Soriot said: “Our company is working hard to establish parallel supply agreements with other nations and multilateral organisations to ensure fair and equitable access around the world.”

Shares in AstraZeneca rose 1.8% on Monday morning in London.

Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UK