Production of the most promising anti-COVID vaccine to come through clinical trials is now being ramped up, and shipped from Oxford University to Italy in the next step toward mass production.
Known as AZD1222, a “seed stock” starter kit from Oxford University was shipped to the Advent firm in Italy, a division of a larger group known as IRBM, which has specialized in making quantities of experimental vaccines using adenoviruses, of which Covid-19 is one, Washington Post reporters Chico Harlan and Stefano Pitrelli reported yesterday.
Last week, Italy, Germany, France, and the Netherlands struck a deal for 400 million doses of the experimental Oxford vaccine, which, if regulators approve it, would be produced by the Anglo-Swedish drug company AstraZeneca. That company has also made similar deals with Britain and the United States, with President Trump supplying $1.2 billion in funding.