AstraZeneca withdraws its COVID-19 vaccine from the global market

AstraZeneca is withdrawing its COVID-19 vaccine from the market due to low demand, the drugmaker said on Wednesday.

The vaccine, which was never authorized in the US, was widely used around the world in the early part of the global vaccination campaign.

AstraZeneca’s shot was cheaper to manufacture and easier to distribute than Pfizer and BioNTech’s mRNA shots, which were mainly aimed at rich countries. It was the main vaccine used by Covax, the global program to provide vaccines to low- and middle-income countries.

More than 3 billion doses have been supplied globally since the vaccine was first approved for emergency use by British regulators in late 2020. The UK initially relied on AstraZeneca’s vaccine but later purchased 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, more than 6.5 million lives were saved in just the first year of use,” a company spokesperson said in a statement.

“As multiple variants of COVID-19 vaccines have since been developed, there is a surplus of updated vaccines available. This has led to a decline in demand for Vaxzervria, which is no longer manufactured or supplied.”

AstraZeneca’s vaccine did not perform as well in clinical trials compared to mRNA vaccines, although it was still effective in preventing serious illness and death from the virus. The company did not update the vaccine to match the different variants as it relied on existing vaccine technology which made this more difficult.

The company also requested that the European Medicines Agency withdraw the licensing of its vaccine, a move that came into force this week, the agency said in a statement. update on your website.

Shortly after it was approved, there were reports across Europe that the vaccine was linked to rare blood clots.

The European Union’s top medicines regulator concluded that the side effects, although rare, should be listed, and the company updated the product information in April 2021. Some countries have restricted use of the shot due to concerns about clotting, likely decreasing acceptance and demand.

This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story