Medicosnext
According to Japanese health minister Katsunobu Kato, British company AstraZeneca Plc will supply 120 million doses of its vaccine being developed with the University of Oxford. The first tranche of 30 million doses will be received in March, 2021. AstraZeneca is conducting the final-stage clinical trial of its experimental AZD1222 vaccine, and is expected to begin clinical trials in Japan later this month to confirm its efficacy and safety. The company is also negotiating with Japanese companies JCR Pharmaceuticals Co. and Daiichi Sankyo Co. to produce vaccine solutions and packing and storing vaccines, respectively. The company is still not clear whether it is necessary to inoculate a person once or twice. US company Pfizer Inc and its German partner BioNTech SE has already agreed to supply Japan with 120 million doses of its vaccine for 60 million people by the end of June 2021.
Ref: Kyodo News, Aug 7, 2020,
