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AstraZeneca to make ‘modest profit’ from coronavirus vaccine, but not from developing countries

  • Firm departs from non-profit model used throughout pandemic
  • Other jab producers have been making money all along

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A woman receives an AstraZeneca vaccine. The firm will now start to take a ‘modest profit’ from its coronavirus vaccine as it moves away from the non-profit model it has operated so far but says profits will not be made from developing countries. Photo: AP
Associated Press
British-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca will start to make a modest profit from its coronavirus vaccine as it moves away from the non-profit model it has operated during the pandemic.

In a third-quarter update, the company said on Friday it is “now expecting to progressively transition the vaccine to modest profitability as new orders are received.”

However, it said it will not be making any coronavirus vaccine profits from developing countries.

“Limited” profits from the vaccine in the fourth quarter will offset costs related to its antibody cocktail developed to prevent and treat Covid-19, the firm said.

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Until now, AstraZeneca said it would provide the vaccine “at cost” – around US$2 to US$3 – for the duration of the pandemic following an agreement with the University of Oxford, which developed the vaccine.

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Other vaccine producers, such as Pfizer and Moderna, have been booking hefty profits on their shots all along.

The change came as AstraZeneca unveiled plans to set up a separate arm for vaccines and antibody treatments that focus on Covid-19. It marks the fact that AstraZeneca was only a minor player in the provision of vaccines before the pandemic.

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In its update for the three months until and including September, the company said revenue jumped by about 50% to a record US$9.9 billion. The uptick was due to sales of more than US$1 billion in Covid-19 vaccines and the inclusion for the first time of around US$1.3 billion worth of revenue from its rare disease business unit following the recent acquisition of global biopharmaceutical company Alexion.
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