Australia will acquire 85 million doses with a price tag of $1.7 billion if two experimental COVID-19 vaccines are proven safe and effective as part of an agreement for free access for the country's citizens.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Monday disclosed that the Australian government expects to get its first delivery of a potential treatment in January next year, making its people among the first in the world to be administered with the medicine if a clinical test being conducted by AstraZeneca and Oxford University proves successful.
CSL Ltd, the biggest biotech group in Australia, said it will produce around 30 million doses of the AZD1222 potential vaccine. The Australian government will provide the funds to enable CSL to make the vaccines, the company said.
According to Paul Perreault, CSL's chief executive officer, the group is delighted that they can manufacture the treatment without hampering the development and production of its main products. CSL is also happy to provide a second alternative for an experimental COVID-19 drug to Australia, Perreault added.
Morrison said his administration has reached an agreement with CSL Ltd to produce two types of medications - one that is being developed by competitor AstraZeneca/Oxford University, and another in CSL's own research facility in tandem with the University of Queensland.
During a media briefing in Canberra, the Australian prime minister said the country "needs some hope," adding that the government is embarking on a new campaign to protect the health of its people against the dreaded disease.
Around 95 percent of the vaccines would be produced at CSL's Broadmeadows laboratory in Melbourne. The pharmaceutical group takes around a month to produce each batch of medication. Meanwhile, scientists at the University of Queensland are also developing a treatment against the virus. In pre-clinical trials, the researchers said their potential COVID-19 drug showed impressive results in animal subjects.
Morrison pointed out that CSL is expected o produce around 3.8 million shots of the AstraZeneca vaccine by January and February 2021. The vaccine is currently being evaluated in final-phase tests in South Africa, Brazil and Europe.
