The ongoing coronavirus vaccine rollout seems to have hit somewhat of a snag in Europe. AstraZeneca’s (NASDAQ: AZN) new COVID-19 vaccine is now facing concerns about potential side effects. The pharmaceutical giant, which had initially said that its clinical trials had shown no significant adverse reactions, is facing pushback from several European countries that are worried that patients might be at risk for serious, potentially life-threatening side effects. A number of countries have since suspended the use of AstraZeneca’s vaccine over blood-clotting issues, with there being one confirmed death so far.
Germany, Spain, Italy, France, Ireland, Denmark, Norway, and a few other countries have suspended AstraZeneca’s vaccine following a number of serious blood-clotting issues that emerged from the vaccine. The main E.U. healthcare regulator, the European Medicines Agency, said that it expects to give a verdict on the vaccine by Thursday, although the agency still says the benefits outweigh the risks and that pausing the vaccine isn’t necessary.
AstraZeneca responded to the news quickly, not just to quell any potential worries, but also because the pharmaceutical company is still awaiting approval in America. Considering these recent issues, this might lead to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ruling against AstraZeneca’s vaccine being approved, especially since other vaccines are already available in the country. No other major vaccine manufacturer has suffered a similar setback so far as well, which is only further damaging AstraZeneca’s credibility.
“A careful review of all available safety data of more than 17 million people vaccinated in the European Union (E.U.) and U.K. with COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca has shown no evidence of an increased risk of pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or thrombocytopenia, in any defined age group, gender, batch, or in any particular country,” said AstraZeneca in a press release. “The safety of the public will always come first. The Company is keeping this issue under close review but available evidence does not confirm that the vaccine is the cause.”
Despite the news, shares of AstraZeneca don’t seem to be affected that much. Over the course of Monday, shares actually inched up around 0.7%, in addition to an extra 0.6% gain in pre-market trading for Tuesday. It seems that investors don’t really care about these safety concerns, especially since AstraZeneca isn’t producing this vaccine for profit, unlike other companies out there like Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA).
Over the past year, AstraZeneca hasn’t really done that well during 2020. Shares ended up peaking in July, but have since been slowly falling downwards. Other companies that have produced similar COVID-19 vaccines, like Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), haven’t done that well either over the past 12 months either. In contrast, companies like Moderna have gained the most from the coronavirus vaccine rollout, alongside some other small-cap vaccine manufacturers.
AstraZeneca Company Profile
A merger between Astra of Sweden and Zeneca Group of the United Kingdom formed AstraZeneca in 1999. The company sells branded drugs across several major therapeutic classes, including gastrointestinal, diabetes, cardiovascular, respiratory, cancer, and immunology. The majority of sales come from international markets with the United States representing close to one third of its sales. – Warrior Trading News
