Oxford Biomedica, AstraZeneca extend Covid vaccine deal

Oxford Biomedica said it had extended its agreement with AstraZeneca to mass-produce its Covid-19 vaccine candidate.

The company said AstraZeneca would give it $15m upfront to procure manufacturing capacity at its plant and that it could get an additional $35m plus other costs until the end of 2021 under the new 18-month deal.

AstraZeneca's vaccine candidate, known as AZD1222, has moved to late stage trials in the US. Oxford Biomedica said the deal announced on Tuesday could be further expanded by 18 months.