AstraZeneca in the UK doubles vaccine production capacity to 2 billion doses

Recently Nihon Keizai Shimbun Electronic Edition reported the following:

英アストラゼネカ、ワクチン生産能力倍増　20億回分に

新型コロナ ヨーロッパ

2020/6/5 5:07

【ロンドン=佐竹実】英製薬大手のアストラゼネカは4日、英オックスフォード大学と開発する新型コロナウイルスのワクチンについて、今年から来年にかけて20億回分の生産が可能になるとの見通しを発表した。インドの大手ワクチンメーカーと新たにライセンス契約を結び、従来の生産計画から倍増する。

 アストラゼネカは5月、10億回分の生産体制を整え、9月にも供給を始めると発表済み。このうち米国が3億回分、英国が1億回分を確保したと明らかにしていた。

 今回、インドのワクチン大手セラム・インスティチュート・オブ・インディアとライセンス契約を結んだことで、新興国向けに新たに10億回分を生産できる見通しになった。うち4億回分は年内の供給を目指す。

 新型コロナは中南米などで感染が広がり、世界の死者数は増え続けている。アストラゼネカは世界保健機関（WHO）などの国際機関と連携し、新興国にもワクチンが行き渡る体制を整える。ワクチンは新型コロナ対策として期待が高まるが、資金力がある先進国に偏ることが懸念されている。

Translation

[London = Minoru Satake] On April 4, AstraZeneca, a major British pharmaceutical company, announced that it might be able to produce 2 billion doses of new coronavirus vaccine to be developed with the Oxford University in the UK from this year to next year. A new license agreement would be signed with a major vaccine manufacturer in India to double the existing production plan.

 AstraZeneca had announced in May that it could prepare a production system for 1 billion doses and could start supplying in September. Of these doses, the United States  could secure 300 million and the United Kingdom 100 million.

By signing a license agreement with Serum Institute of India, a major vaccine company in India, it was now possible to produce 1 billion new doses for emerging countries. Of this, the aim was that 400 million would be supplied within this year.

The new corona was spreading in Latin America and other countries, and the death toll in the world continued to increase. AstraZeneca would work with international organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) to establish a system to deliver vaccines to emerging countries. Vaccines were expected to serve as a measure against the new corona, but there was concern that their supplies might be biased towards the developed countries that had the financial resources.

              So, vaccine will be ready before the end of this year. I like to hear that.