AstraZeneca Claims Victory In Dispute With Europe Bloc Over Slow Delivery

AstraZeneca committed in a contract to do its best to deliver to the bloc 300 million doses by June end, but production problems led the firm to revise its target to 100 million jabs.

AstraZeneca said on Friday the European Union had lost a legal case against the pharmaceutical firm over the supply of COVID-19 vaccines, with a court in Brussels rejecting an EU request for more deliveries by the end of June. But European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Friday's ruling supported the EU's view that AstraZeneca -- against which the bloc has recently launched a second lawsuit -- had failed to meet its commitments. The Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical giant committed in a contract to do its best to deliver 300 million doses to the 27-nation bloc by the end of June, but production problems led the company to revise down its target to 100 million vaccines. The supply cuts delayed the EU's vaccination drive in the first quarter of the year, when the bloc had initially bet on AstraZeneca to deliver the largest volume of its shots. That led to a bitter dispute and to the EU's legal action to get at least 120 million doses by the end of June.