BRIEF—CSL clarifies COVID19 vaccine partnering

Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Tuesday said that the country has signed a deal with AstraZeneca to secure a potential COVID-19 vaccine, joining a growing list of countries lining up supplies of the drug, as reported London South East.

Commenting on the announcement yesterday, Australia’s leading pharma company CSL Limited said that development of the University of Queensland’s vaccine candidate remains CSL’s priority.

CSL’s shares were up 6.4% at A$312.05 as trading closed today.

However, CSL said: “We are currently in discussions with AstraZeneca and the Australian government to assess whether it is possible to provide local manufacturing support for the Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccine, should it prove successful, while protecting our commitment to the UQ vaccine.

“We are assessing the viability of options ranging from the fill and finish of bulk product imported to Australia through to manufacture of the vaccine candidate under licence. There are a number of technical issues to work through and discussions are ongoing.”

In June, CSL, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and Queensland University entered into a new agreement to accelerate the development, manufacture and distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine candidate which has been pioneered by researchers at UQ.

The agreement formalizes the support provided by CSL to UQ and CEPI from the outset of the pandemic earlier this year.