AstraZeneca files for Japan approval of COVID-19 vaccine, 2nd after Pfizer treatment (updated)

JCR Pharmaceuticals

05/02/2021 07:15

(Adds details throughout)
    TOKYO, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Drugmaker AstraZeneca PLC  AZN.L 
said on Friday it had applied for approval in Japan of its
COVID-19 vaccine, making it the second pharmaceutical firm to do
so after Pfizer Inc  PFE.N .
    The Japanese government in December signed a contract to
procure 120 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, enough for
60 million people. The company is requesting special approval
for the vaccine and plans to submit further data to regulators
in March, it said in a statement. 
    The AstraZeneca element is a critical component in the
government's inoculation plan before the Tokyo Olympics
scheduled for this summer: the doses will be made mostly in
Japan, and don't need to be kept refrigerated at the ultra-cold
temperatures required for the Pfizer formula.    
    AstraZeneca, which developed the vaccine with the University
of Oxford, started clinical trials in Japan last summer,
recruiting 256 volunteers. 
    Japan has secured rights to at least 564 million doses of
COVID-19 vaccines from Western developers, the biggest quantity
in Asia and more than enough for its 126 million population.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2IA2FS
    But Japan has lagged behind other major economies in
starting its COVID-19 inoculation campaign, partly because of
its dependence on overseas makers and its requirement of
domestic clinical trials for all vaccine candidates. 
    

 (Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka and Rocky Swift; Editing by Tom
Hogue and Kenneth Maxwell)
 ((kiyoshi.takenaka@thomsonreuters.com; +81 3 4563 2788;))