AstraZeneca and J&J face viral vector shortages for COVID-19 vaccines, says analyst

25 March 2021

As if there were not enough problems facing the manufacture and distribution of vaccines to fight the novel the novel coronavirus pandemic, there is a new warning that a shortage of viral vectors will have a further impact on two leaders in the field.

The latest wave of COVID-19 vaccines - those from AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN) and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) - are recombinant vector vaccines, which are a different molecule type from the first wave of mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer (NYSE: PFE)/BioNTech (Nasdaq: BNTX) and Moderna (Nasdaq: MRNA).

As recombinant vector vaccines use a virus as a vector for DNA delivery, they will be forced to compete for the world’s limited virus production capacity with gene therapies and gene-modified cell therapies, both of which also use viral vectors, says data and analytics company GlobalData.

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