European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Monday called AstraZeneca's CEO to demand that he honor deliveries of its Covid vaccine in accordance with contract with the EU, after the announcement of delays, according to a spokesperson.
The deliveries of the AstraZeneca / Oxford vaccine, after a European regulatory green light expected on January 29, will be smaller than expected in the first quarter because of a "
drop in yield
" on a manufacturing site, the British group warned on Friday.
An announcement that alarms after the delivery difficulties of the Pfizer-BioNTech duo.
Read also: Covid-19: AstraZeneca / Oxford vaccine deliveries smaller than expected in Europe
Ursula von der Leyen "
spoke this morning by phone to AstraZeneca's Managing Director, Pascal Soriot, and she made it very clear that she expects AstraZeneca to honor the contracts and conditions provided for in the pre-order agreement
" concluded by the 'EU, said a Commission spokesperson.
The head of the European executive notably reminded him "
that the EU had invested significant sums in laboratories, precisely to ensure that production ramps up before approval for marketing
".
“
Of course, production problems can arise with a complex vaccine, but we expect the company to find solutions and to exploit all possible flexibilities to ensure rapid deliveries,
” the spokesperson continued. , during a press conference.
The timing issue was the subject of a meeting
of the EU's "
steering committee
" on Monday,
bringing together representatives of the laboratory and member states.
At the same time, the Commission was to unveil during the day a "
transparency mechanism
" according to which pharmaceutical companies would have the obligation to notify the authorities of shipments to third countries of doses of vaccines produced on European territory, told AFP a senior Brussels official.
No legal action for the moment
“
Pascal Soriot was delighted to speak with the President of the Commission,
” commented a spokesperson for AstraZeneca.
The French boss "
insisted on the importance of working in good collaboration
" with the States, committing to deliver his vaccines "as
soon as possible
", according to the same source.
European Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides sent a letter to the British group on Sunday in which she recalled that increasing production capacities in parallel with clinical trials of the vaccine is "
one of the important principles of the contract
", according to another door -speak.
Read also: Covid-19: the production capacities of laboratories pushed to the maximum
For the time being, the Commission is not discussing possible legal consequences in the event of non-compliance with the contract.
“
I don't think this is the time to venture into legal discussions.
At this stage, what is most important is to discuss (...) to see how the deliveries provided for in the contract can take place,
”the spokesperson stressed on Monday.
The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, had demanded Sunday that the pharmaceutical companies show “
transparency
” on the reasons for the delays in delivery, which affect AstraZeneca but also the duo Pfizer-BioNTech.
The European Commission, responsible for negotiating on behalf of the Twenty-Seven, has signed a contract to pre-order up to 400 million doses of the AstraZeneca / Oxford vaccine.
It has the advantage of being cheaper to produce than the vaccine of its rivals.
It is also easier to store and transport, especially compared to that from Pfizer / BioNTech which must be stored at very low temperatures (-70 ° C).
