Withdrawal of Bexzebria's European Sales Application
Demand Decreases Due to Competing Vaccines Like Pfizer and Moderna
Increased Investment in Development of Oral Obesity Treatments
Multinational pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca announced its withdrawal from the COVID-19 vaccine market, according to reports by the British daily The Telegraph and others on the 7th (local time).
According to the reports, AstraZeneca requested the European Union (EU) in March to withdraw the marketing authorization for its COVID-19 vaccine Vaxzevria, and as of this day, the use of the vaccine within the region has been banned. AstraZeneca plans to conclude its COVID-19 vaccine business by taking similar measures in several countries, including the UK, where its vaccine was approved, starting with Europe.
In a statement, AstraZeneca said, "We are very proud of the role Vaxzevria played in ending the global pandemic," adding, "It is now time to conclude our journey for global health that we undertook with various partner organizations."
The company further explained the background of its business withdrawal, stating, "As numerous COVID-19 vaccines responding to various variants have emerged rapidly, demand for Vaxzevria has decreased," and "Since our vaccine will no longer be manufactured or supplied, we have decided to cease sales in Europe."
Vaxzevria, developed jointly by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford, underwent clinical trials in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic began and started to be widely used from the following year. The company introduced the vaccine as having "saved more than 6.5 million lives in its first year of use alone and supplied over 3 billion doses worldwide." However, demand declined as messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines, such as those from Pfizer and Moderna, which instruct the body to produce proteins, gained prominence.
This business withdrawal plan came just months after AstraZeneca acknowledged that its COVID-19 vaccine could very rarely cause the side effect known as thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS). The Telegraph reported that TTS is linked to incidents in the UK where at least 81 people died and hundreds suffered severe symptoms. Victims of the side effects are currently suing AstraZeneca.
Meanwhile, AstraZeneca appears to be shifting its focus from COVID-19 vaccines to respiratory syncytial virus vaccines and obesity treatments. Last year, the company announced it would acquire the oral obesity treatment candidate ‘ECC5004,’ developed by Chinese biotechnology company Ecogen, for up to $2 billion (approximately 2.63 trillion KRW).
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