Dispute escalates: EU Commission sues Astrazeneca - vaccine manufacturer reacts directly

The negative headlines for Astrazeneca never end: Now the EU Commission wants to sue the British-Swedish vaccine manufacturer.

Update from April 26, 2021, 3:03 p.m.:

After the procedure initiated by the EU Commission, Astrazeneca justified its approach to vaccine delivery.

The manufacturer has kept to its contract with the EU Commission and will defend itself in court, it said on Monday in a reaction of the company to the announcement from Brussels.

"We believe this litigation is unfounded and welcome the opportunity to resolve this dispute as soon as possible," said Astrazeneca.

According to the forecast, almost 50 million vaccine doses will be delivered to the EU countries by the end of April.

They are also working on ramping up production as quickly as possible.

Astrazeneca: EU Commission sues vaccine manufacturer

Initial report from April 26, 2021:

Brussels - The EU Commission and Astrazeneca have been arguing about the lack of vaccine and delivery delays for months.

Now the dispute is escalating - the EU wants to sue the British-Swedish manufacturer.

In the dispute over missing deliveries, the EU Commission has taken legal action against the manufacturer Astrazeneca.

A commission spokesman announced on Monday that the proceedings before a Belgian court had also been started on behalf of the 27 member states.

All 27 Member States support the approach.

Astrazeneca dispute over missing vaccine deliveries - 30 million doses instead of 120 million

The British-Swedish manufacturer had drastically cut deliveries of corona vaccine to the European Union in the past few months.

In the first quarter, only 30 million instead of 120 million vaccine doses went to the 27 states.

According to the latest information, 70 million cans are expected for the second quarter.

Originally, 180 million had been agreed.

From the point of view of the EU Commission, the manufacturer is thus violating an EU framework agreement from August 2020. In total, the EU Commission has ordered 300 million cans from Astrazeneca.

An option for a further 100 million cans passed unused.

The relationship between the EU Commission and the company has been tense for a long time - also because Great Britain was hardly affected by the delivery problems.

The EU had therefore introduced an export control mechanism.

A delivery of 250,000 Astrazeneca cans from Italy to Australia was blocked.

EU Commission files lawsuit against Astrazeneca

The EU Commission had already initiated an arbitration procedure with the company.

The lawsuit is now the next step.

However, this should not change anything in terms of the delivery backlog.

A large part of the vaccine that is injected in the EU countries currently comes from the German-American manufacturer Biontech / Pfizer.

In addition to Astrazeneca, the preparations from Moderna and Johnson & Johnson also have European approval.

Astrazeneca's vaccine is now only used to a limited extent in many EU countries because it has been linked to very rare cases of cerebral vein thrombosis.

However, it is still unrestrictedly approved by the EU Medicines Agency (EMA).

The Biontech / Pfizer vaccine is currently being tested in Israel.

Myocarditis has been reported in people who were vaccinated and given the mRNA vaccine developed in Germany.

(dpa / va)

List of rubric lists: © Tim Ireland / XinHua / dpa