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Summary
- Oxford Biomedica on Tuesday almost doubled its revenue expectation from AstraZeneca Plc, as it bagged more batches vaccine order.
- Biomedica raised its revenue guidance from over £50 million to over £100 million from AstraZeneca by of end 2021.
- In September 2020, the company signed a supply agreement for 18 months with AstraZeneca for the commercial manufacturing of the Covid vaccine.
Oxford Biomedica on Tuesday doubled the revenue expectation with the increased order book of Covid vaccine from AstraZeneca. Reacting to the news, the stocks of Oxford Biomedica Plc (LON: OXB) surged over 13 per cent during the trade today. AstraZeneca Plc (LON: AZN) ordered more batches of Covid-19 vaccine from Oxford Biomedica for the second half of 2021. Shares of AstraZeneca though, was also in green, but modestly only, trading at GBX 7,920 on 18 May at 14:57 GMT+1.
Oxford Biomedica, which has an agreement with AstraZeneca to mass-produce its COVID-19 vaccine, said that because of its successful manufacturing of big batches of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine, the latter today committed to up the orders from the company in the second half of 2021 and because of that it was able to raise its revenue guidance from over £50 million to over £100 million from AstraZeneca by completion of 2021.
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In September 2020, the company signed a supply agreement for a duration of 18 months with AstraZeneca Plc for the commercial manufacturing of AZD1222, the Covid vaccine. Due to rise in its revenue guidance, Oxford Biomedica said it is also expecting a considerable jump in the group operating EBITDA this year.
AstraZeneca vaccine and concern around it
AstraZeneca had been in the eye of storm over its vaccines. Alleging the company of failing to fulfil its vaccine commitments, the European Union had taken legal action against the company. Also, there had been various instances of people developing rare blood clots after receiving the Oxford-AstraZeneca jabs, however, the drug regulators of both the UK and EU stated that its benefits are greater than the risks for a bulk of people.
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The UK announced earlier this month that most adults below 40 would be vaccinated with an alternative to the AstraZeneca vaccine. The medical safety regulator said out of the 28.5 million doses administered, 49 deaths and 242 clotting cases have been observed and a slightly higher risk was seen in younger age groups.
From the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, Prof Wei Shen Lim had said that as infection rates continue to remain under control, the authorities were advising adults aged 18 to 39 years and having no health conditions to opt for an alternative to the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, if it did not cause delays in the vaccination progrmamme.
Oxford Biomedica also said that the vaccine commitment to AstraZeneca would not impact the Group’s ongoing partnerships or ability to get into and support new partnerships in the gene and cell therapy field. Experts said that the increase in the supply deal was an endorsement of Oxford's capabilities, and AstraZeneca would in all likelihood opt for a further extension.
CEO of Oxford Biomedica, John Dawson, said that those involved with the production of the Covid vaccine would be proud of the feat. He said that the company was delighted to be the main supplier of the vaccine, and the group was proud to be involved in the vaccination drive that was saving many lives.
