AstraZeneca Approaches Gilead for Merger, Begins Mass Production of Oxford’s COVID-19 Vaccine

AstraZeneca (Cambridgeshire, England) has approached Gilead Sciences (Foster City, CA, USA) for a potential merger that would bring together two companies who are leading the drug industry in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

A report by Bloomberg News said that AstraZeneca had contacted Gilead about a merger in May, but did not mention the terms of any transaction. However, Gilead is least interested in a sale or merger with any large pharmaceutical company, and continues to maintain a deal strategy focused on partnerships and smaller acquisitions, according to the report.

Meanwhile, AstraZeneca has commenced mass production of the potential COVID-19 vaccine, AZD1222, developed by the University of Oxford (Oxford, UK), in the UK, India, Switzerland, and Norway. AstraZeneca recently agreed to supply 400 million doses to the US and UK after reaching a license agreement with Oxford University for its potential vaccine. The company has now entered into landmark agreements with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), Gavi the Vaccine Alliance, and the Serum Institute of India (SII) in line with its commitment to ensuring broad and equitable global access to the COVID-19 vaccine.

AstraZeneca has entered into a USD 750 million agreement with CEPI and Gavi to support the manufacturing, procurement and distribution of 300 million doses of the potential vaccine, with delivery starting by the end of the year. In addition, the company has signed a licensing agreement with SII to supply one billion doses for low-and-middle-income countries, with a commitment to provide 400 million doses before the end of 2020. Together, the agreements mark AstraZeneca’s latest commitments to enable global access to the vaccine, including to low-and-middle-income countries, beyond the company’s recent partnerships with the UK and US. The company is building a number of supply chains in parallel across the world to support global access at no profit during the pandemic and has so far secured manufacturing capacity for two billion doses of the potential vaccine.

The agreement with CEPI and Gavi also represents the first advanced market commitment through the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, a global collaboration of philanthropic, multilateral, private sector and civil society partners. The mechanism will work to accelerate the development, production and equitable access to the new COVID-19 tools across the world including in low and middle-income nations. CEPI will lead vaccine development and manufacturing and Gavi will lead the procurement within the global mechanism.

“We are working tirelessly to honor our commitment to ensure broad and equitable access to Oxford’s vaccine across the globe and at no profit,” said Pascal Soriot, CEO, AstraZeneca. “Today marks an important step in helping us supply hundreds of millions of people around the world, including to those in countries with the lowest means. I am deeply grateful for everyone’s commitment to this cause and for their work in bringing this together in such a short time.”
“AstraZeneca and our other industry partners have a critical role to play in rapidly developing safe and effective vaccines and manufacturing the billions of doses needed to put a permanent end to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Dr Richard Hatchett, CEO, CEPI. “AstraZeneca is admirably committed to equitable global access for this vaccine, and this partnership demonstrates how the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access Facility will bring the private, public and third sectors together to make COVID-19 vaccines available to those who need them most, for the benefit of all.”

“Today we have seen tremendous willingness from donor governments to support equitable access, particularly to developing countries– and it is incredibly heartening to see the private sector join in this effort. We encourage other vaccine manufacturers to work with us towards the shared global goal of finding solutions for this unprecedented pandemic,” said Dr Seth Berkley, CEO, Gavi.

“Serum Institute of India is delighted to partner with AstraZeneca in bringing this vaccine to India as well as low-and-middle-income countries. Over the past 50 years SII has built significant capability in vaccine manufacturing and supply globally. We will work closely with AstraZeneca to ensure fair and equitable distribution of the vaccine in these countries,” said Adar Poonawalla, CEO, SII.