AstraZeneca CEO on MSNBC: We Are Confident We’ll Deliver 100 Million Doses of Coronavirus Vaccine in October

Ruud Dobber, the president of pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, said in a Thursday interview he is confident the company will have a coronavirus vaccine and be able to deliver 100 million doses by October.

“Assuming that the vaccine shows safety and, to a certain extent, efficacy, we will start large clinical trials in the United States, as well as in other parts of the world in — over the summer period in June, July,” Dobber told MSNBC hosts Chuck Todd and Katy Tur. “Equally, as we speak, we’re beefing up our manufacturing capabilities, and we are confident that we will be able to deliver 100 million doses in October, assuming, of course, that the vaccine is working.”

Todd questioned the timeline despite Dobber’s confidence, while Kur asked the CEO if they were rushing the vaccine out of desperation, and if he could ensure the vaccine would be safe for the general population.

Dobber promised that safety was a key element in getting the vaccine out, adding that they have been working with regulatory agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration.

“First of all, we have already done a phase one, a phase two trial. That trial is ongoing as we speak. And, once again, we are expecting in the next few weeks the results of that. It’s monitored by an independent data monitoring committee,” Dobber added. “And, equally, if the safety of the vaccine is good, we will start as soon as possible these large-scale clinical trials across the world. Safety is always a very important element for vaccine development. But, equally, equally, it’s very important that we work with speed.”

Todd then pressed Dobber about the $1 billion in government funding that AstraZeneca received from the U.S., asking him if this would give American citizens priority in line for the vaccine, and to clarify who exactly gets the vaccine first.

“As an organization, we’re very committed in order to make the vaccine available to as many countries as possible. In the announcement earlier today, we have promised to deliver 300 million doses to the United States. But, equally, earlier in the week, we made the announcement of 100 million doses to the United Kingdom,” Dobber answered.

“Equally, we already have a capacity of roughly $1 billion vaccines,” he added. “And we are in discussion with organizations like CEPI, Gavi, World Health Organization, and the Serum Institute in India, in order to scale up that capacity as quick as possible.”

Dobber clarified that the organization is working with several supply providers across the world in order to make sure doses would be distributed as fairly and broadly as possible, adding that if the vaccine does not work, the money will be redirected to help fund other areas of vaccine development. 

Watch above, via MSNBC.

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