British drugmaker AstraZeneca Plc said it has signed a contract with Italy, Germany, France and the Netherlands to supply Europe with a vaccine against the coronavirus, with deliveries starting by the end of 2020. The contract is for up to 400 million doses of the vaccine, developed by the University of Oxford, the company said, adding that it was looking to expand manufacturing of the vaccine, which it pledged to provide for no profit during the pandemic.
“With our European supply chain due to begin production soon, we hope to make the vaccine available widely and rapidly,” Chief Executive Pascal Soriot said in a statement. The experimentation phase of the vaccine is already advanced and expected to end in the autumn, Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranza said in a Facebook post.
