UK regulator set to approve AstraZeneca vaccine within days

28 December 2020

UK government officials confirmed on Sunday that the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) would imminently approve the Oxford COVID-19 vaccine, adding that the announcement could come as soon as Tuesday, according to the Financial Times.

Meantime, Pascal Soriot, chief executive of AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN), which is commercializing the vaccine, AZD1222, that was developed with Oxford University, told the Sunday Times that the company has “figured out the winning formula and how to get efficacy that, after two doses, is up there with everybody else.”

He also said it will be as effective against the virus as Pfizer (NYSE: PFE)/BioNTech’s (Nasdaq: BNTX) BNT162b2 vaccine and Moderna’s (Nasdaq: MRNA) mRNA-1273.

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