The Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) will sign an agreement with the biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca for the purchase of lots and technology transfer for the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Oxford University. The agreement will be the result of a cooperation between the Brazilian government and the company, announced last Saturday (June 27) by the Ministry of Health.

This is a technological order in which the institution purchases the product before the end of the planned clinical trials, due to the global movement for mobilization and acquisition of vaccines. The agreement with the biopharmaceutical company provides for two stages of production. The first consists of producing 30.4 million doses before the end of clinical trials, which would represent 15% of the amount needed by the Brazilian population, at a cost of 127 million dollars. The investment includes not only vaccine lots, but also the transfer of technology so that production can be completely internalized and national.

“The production of this vaccine is an initiative of the Brazilian government, which, combined with other actions, could contribute in facing the Covid-19 pandemic. As a strategic institution of the Brazilian State, Fiocruz counts on 120 years of experience and performance in public health. At a time of a health emergency like this, we already have a robust infrastructure with productive capacity to incorporate new technologies and introduce new vaccines quickly in the Unified Health System (SUS). This is a direct result of our expertise and of all the investment that has been made in Fiocruz in recent years, especially in updating its technology park”, highlights the president of Fiocruz, Nísia Trindade Lima.

AstraZeneca expects a first batch, with 15.2 million doses, to be produced by December 2020 and another batch, with the remaining 15.2 million doses, to be delivered in January 2021. After this production, registration and validation steps would still be necessary before a possible distribution.