AstraZeneca withdraws Covishield globally citing 'commercial reasons': Report

A report in The Telegraph said that AstraZeneca was removing the vaccine from markets citing “commercial reasons” saying that more updated vaccines were now available in the market.

'Updated vaccines'

Covishield, developed by the Swedish-British drug manufacturer AstraZeneca and Oxford University, was prominently used during the Covid-19 pandemic, including in India. In India, and other low-and-middle-income countries, it was manufactured and supplied under the name “Covishield” by Serum Institute of India (SII) through a licence from the university and AstraZeneca.

The news report quoting AstraZeneca said that updated vaccines which can tackle new variants more effectively have entered the market and cited that reason for not manufacturing or supplying Covishield any longer.

Moreover, the company has withdrawn its ’marketing authorisation’ in the European Union, where it cannot be used anymore. According to the company, the application to withdraw the vaccine was made on March 5 this year and came into effect on Tuesday, said news reports.

The company, however maintained that the timing was "pure coincidence" and it had nothing to do with the lawsuit it was facing. 

100 million pound lawsuit

AstraZeneca is facing a 100 million pound lawsuit in UK over claims that the Covidshield, developed along with University of Oxford, caused deaths and injuries to several people. One of the side effects being TTS — Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome — which causes people to have blood clots and a low blood platelet count. TTS causes blood clots and a low blood platelet count in humans and has been linked to at least 81 deaths in the UK.

However, the company made it clear that it is withdrawing the vaccine not because of its admission in its court documents submitted n February this year that the vaccine “can, in very rare cases cause TTS. Nor is it due to the court case. There are nearly 51 cases lodged against the company with many victims and relatives seeking damages estimated to be worth up to 100 million pounds.

Meanwhile, lawyers had argued that the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine is “defective” and that its efficacy has been “vastly overstated”.

Critical role in ending pandemic

AstraZeneca has denied these claims.

In a statement, the company said the first year of use alone over three billion doses were supplied globally.

"Our efforts have been recognised by governments around the world and are widely regarded as being a critical component of ending the global pandemic. As multiple, variant Covid-19 vaccines have since been developed, there is a surplus of available updated vaccines. We will now work with regulators and our partners to align on a clear path forward to conclude this chapter and significant contribution to the Covid-19 pandemic," AstraZeneca said in a statement.

“Our sympathy goes out to anyone who has lost loved ones or reported health problems. Patient safety is our highest priority, and regulatory authorities have clear and stringent standards to ensure the safe use of all medicines, including vaccines," it added.

According to experts, all “monovalent” vaccines that tackled the original Covid strain will be withdrawn and replaced with updated vaccines that deal with a range of strains.