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AstraZeneca strikes deal with Oxford Biomedica to make COVID-19 vaccine

AstraZeneca and Oxford Biomedica announced a deal Thursday to work together to manufacture a potential vaccine for COVID-19 that is set to enter advanced trials in June. File Photo by Drago Prvolovic/EPE-EFE
AstraZeneca and Oxford Biomedica announced a deal Thursday to work together to manufacture a potential vaccine for COVID-19 that is set to enter advanced trials in June. File Photo by Drago Prvolovic/EPE-EFE

May 28 (UPI) -- AstraZeneca reached a deal with British gene and cell therapy company Oxford Biomedica on Thursday to produce its potential vaccine for COVID-19.

Under the agreement, Oxford Biomedica announced it will give AstraZeneca access to its manufacturing center and produce multiple batches of the vaccine candidate, known as AZD1222, this year.

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"We are proud to be a part of this manufacturing consortium working with the Jenner Institute at University of Oxford, for the early manufacturing and scale up of this viral vector based candidate for COVID-19," Oxford Biomedica CEO John Dawson said.

Last week, the United States pledged $1 billion to AstraZeneca to produce the vaccine candidate.

AstraZeneca plans to produce at least 400 million doses of the vaccine and has lined up manufacturing capacity for 1 billion doses with first deliveries scheduled for September.

AZD1222 began Phase I/II clinical trials last month to assess safety, immunogenicity and efficacy in more than 1,000 British volunteers last month and is set to enter more advanced trials in June.

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