AstraZeneca’s pledge to poorer nations as it seeks COVID jab profits from next year
The chief executive of AstraZeneca (AZ) has told Sky News that the company’s decision to begin seeking a modest profit from its COVID vaccine is unlikely to kick in until next year.
Pascal Soriot said this was because it still had many doses of the vaccine to supply that it had promised to do so at cost.
AZ announced earlier this month that it would be seeking to achieve a modest profit in future from the vaccine In order to fund its new anti-viral COVID treatment.
But Mr Soriot stressed that, while some countries would be charged above cost for the vaccine, many more would not.
The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine has been sold at cost since it first became available Pic: AP
He said: “You have to remember that the orders we are taking today will be delivered next year. We still have a lot of orders at no profit to deliver. So they will be delivered next year.
“So you have got to think of the infection as if you were already in next year. And so essentially most of the world at that point will be in a different phase. And we will be more in a regional epidemic or regional pandemic than a global pandemic.
“But you know, we will of course adapt to every circumstance and countries that have low purchasing power we will be supplied at no profit or very low price and others will be a bit more.”
Mr Soriot insisted that he had no regrets that AZ had provided the vaccine at cost even though some of its competitors, such as Pfizer and Moderna, have supercharged their profits through charges for their COVID vaccines.
He went on: “We always knew that some vaccines would be sold at a profit and we made the decision from day one that we would partner with Oxford and deliver this vaccine around the world at no profit so everybody could access it much as possible.
Vials of COVID vaccines made by AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Johnson and Johnson, and Sputnik V
“And again, we’ve delivered more than 2 billion doses, 30% of global supply so far, so it really has worked quite well actually. So we always knew that it was what we were going to do. So there is no surprise, so there can’t be any regret – it was our plan all along.”
He was speaking as AZ, the largest company in the FTSE 100, formally unveils The Discovery Centre, its new £1bn research and development facility in Cambridge, which will be home to some 2,200 scientists.
The centre, to be opened by the Prince of Wales today, represents the biggest single investment ever made by AZ.
It has been specifically sited in Cambridge to be at the heart of the city’s life sciences cluster, within close proximity to the Royal Papworth and Addenbrookes hospitals, Cancer Research UK and the University of Cambridge’s school of clinical medicine.
The site is referred to in scientific circles as the ‘Nobel factory’ as it has created more Nobel Prize winners than anywhere else in the world.
Mr Soriot said AZ spent around $7bn (£5.3bn) on research and development annually – of which “a large proportion”, close to one third, is deployed in the UK.
He added: “it’s a very substantial investment we make each year.”
The opening comes at a hugely busy time for AZ which, earlier this year, completed the $39bn takeover of the rare diseases specialist Alexion.
That took the company, traditionally better known in the industry for its treatments for cancers, heart and respiratory conditions, into a fourth therapy area – and now it has decided, based on the success of its COVID vaccine roll out, to expand into a fifth, vaccines, as well.
However, asked whether AZ was trying to do too much at once, Mr Soriot insisted this was not the case.
He added: “We have great strengths in oncology and we believe we can be one of the three great companies in the world in oncology and maybe even better than that by 2025.
“We continue to do very well in cardiovascular and bio pharmaceuticals overall and now we have rare diseases and vaccines.
“What we call the vaccine and immunotherapy unit is really looking at is managing this portfolio of products to treat or vaccinate people with viral diseases.
“We want to maximise the value of these assets and manage them better.
“Now whether we invest in the long run in this field remains to be seen, but there’s a lot of synergies across this portfolio of products.”
Mr Soriot pointed out that AZ had just achieved its first quarter during which it had notched up $10bn worth of sales.
It is a significant milestone because, when Mr Soriot oversaw AZ’s successful defence against an unwanted takeover approach from Pfizer in 2014, he promised investors that AZ would be delivering annual sales of $40bn a year by 2023.
Shares in Tesla have surged on news that Elon Musk has snapped up stock worth more than $1bn (£741m), bolstering investor hopes the tycoon is committed to its recovery.
The purchase was revealed in a filing which showed the billionaire had bought more than 2.5 million shares last week.
Tesla‘s shares, largely flat in the year to date, rose by more than 5% on Wall St in response.
Values collapsed at the start of the year when Musk‘s-then political bromance with Donald Trump was blamed for a growing backlash against the company.
Money latest: £200 bank switch deal
Sales fell and Tesla premises were even attacked after he began his role at the helm of the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Tesla revenues sagged in Europe too given his association with the president and his trade war, with part of the backlash also blamed on his intervention in Germany’s elections.
One of Tesla’s earliest investors told Sky News at that time that Musk should quit as Tesla’s chief executive unless he gave up the job.
His subsequent decision to step back from the president’s side since May, and the resulting war of words between them, has threatened key subsidies for the company.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
July: Tesla bruised by Musk-Trump fallout
It also failed to stop talk that his focus remains too broad, given all his other interests including X and Space X.
Earlier this month, in a bid to secure his commitment, Tesla released a proposed pay package that could make him the world’s first trillionaire.
The targets he must hit over the next decade are steep if he is to qualify for the share awards.
They include operating profit, sales targets and a $2trn stock market valuation – almost double today’s $1.2trn figure.
An investor vote on the proposed package is due in November.
Danni Hewson, AJ Bell’s head of financial analysis, said of the share price surge: “Markets like it when directors buy into their own companies because it suggests they are confident about returns going forward, and that applies in spades for a CEO as prominent as Elon Musk.”
Business
‘If we’re not there already we’re coming to a town near you’ Aldi says, vowing lower prices before Christmas
Aldi is to open 80 new shops over the next two years, as well as opening a new one every week until the end of the year, after sales hit a record high.
On top of the new sites to be launched, the UK arm of the German discount retailer said a further 21 stores will open within the next 13 weeks, in London, Durham, and Scotland.
“If we’re not there already, we are coming to a town near you,” Aldi’s UK and Ireland chief executive Giles Hurley told reporters, which will create thousands of additonal jobs.
Money blog: ‘I’m a celeb photographer’
Earlier this year, Aldi also said it was seeking sites in Bromley and Ealing in London, South Shields in Tyne and Wear, and Witney in Oxfordshire.
Opening more shops will mean growing market share as the barrier of distance to an Aldi is eliminated.
“The last 35 years have taught us that when we open a store nearby, customers switch to Aldi,” Mr Hurley said.
“The main reason people choose not to shop with us regularly is distance, with over a third of shoppers saying they’d switched to Aldi for their main shop if we opened a store closer to them.”
There are currently 1,060 Aldis in the UK, with an ambition to bring the total to 1,500.
Price wars
Aldi is the UK’s fourth most popular supermarket, after Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda, according to industry data from Worldpanel.
More families were choosing it as the place to do their weekly shop and were also going more frequently for top-up shopping, the company said, which helped Aldi’s UK and Ireland annual revenue reach a new record of £18.1bn in 2024.
Prices are to be brought down in the coming weeks and months as Christmas approaches, Mr Hurley said, as 900 products became cheaper with £300m spent on bringing down the cost of goods.
“I’m really confident that in the coming days, weeks and months, we’ll continue to see prices in our stores drop”, Mr Hurley added.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Inflation up: the bad and ‘good’ news
Market trends
Despite promised price falls, the outlook for overall inflation is “stubborn”, he said, “more stubborn than other developed countries”.
This is seen in changing buyer behaviour. More shoppers are treating themselves at home rather than going out and are increasingly buying Aldi’s own-label premium goods, Mr Hurley said.
Looking to the budget on 26 November, he said there’s “no doubt” it “does create a bit of uncertainty”.
Grocery prices could rise, and consumer confidence could be affected if business costs grow, he added.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment11 months agoHere are the best electric bikes you can buy at every price level in October 2024