AstraZeneca is removing its COVID-19 vaccine from the market due to low demand, the drugmaker stated on Wednesday.
The vaccine, which was never approved in the U.S., was extensively used globally during the initial phase of the global vaccine effort.
AstraZeneca’s vaccine was less expensive to produce and easier to distribute than the mRNA vaccines from Pfizer and BioNTech, which were mostly used in wealthy nations. It was the primary vaccine used by Covax, the global program delivering vaccines to low- and middle-income countries.
Over 3 billion doses have been provided globally since the vaccine was first approved for emergency use by British regulators in late 2020. The U.K. initially relied heavily on AstraZeneca’s vaccine but later purchased the mRNA vaccines for its COVID-19 booster campaign.
“We are extremely proud of the role Vaxzevria played in ending the global pandemic. According to independent estimates, over 6.5 million lives were saved in the first year of use alone,” a company spokesperson said in a statement.
“As multiple, variant COVID-19 vaccines have since been developed there is a surplus of available updated vaccines. This has led to a decline in demand for Vaxzervria, which is no longer being manufactured or supplied.”
AstraZeneca’s vaccine did not perform as well in clinical trials compared to the mRNA vaccines, although it was still effective in preventing severe disease and death from the virus. The company has not updated the vaccine to match different variants, as it relied on existing vaccine technology that made it more difficult to do so.
The company also asked the European Medicines Agency to remove its vaccine licensing, and this measure took effect this week, the agency said in an update on its website Shortly after it was authorized, there were reports across Europe about the vaccine's connection to rare blood clots..
The European Union’s top
drug regulator concluded that the side effects, while rare, should be listed, and the company updated its product information in April 2021. Some countries restricted the vaccine's use due to clotting concerns, which likely reduced its uptake and demand. AstraZeneca is withdrawing its COVID-19 vaccine from the market because of low demand, the drugmaker said Wednesday. The vaccine, which was never authorized in the U.S., was widely used across the world in the early part of the global vaccine drive. AstraZeneca’s vaccine was cheaper to make and easier to distribute than the mRNA vaccines…
