AstraZeneca PLC (AZN)

[Tamtam]

AstraZeneca has applied for authorization for its Covid-19 vaccine in Europe and the EU pharmaceutical regulator said Tuesday it could give the go-ahead as early as Jan. 29. That´s when the European Medicines Agency´s scientific committee will meet to review analysis of the vaccine´s trial data and, if it recommends authorization, the European Commission could formally authorize AstraZeneca´s vaccine within a few days. If AstraZeneca´s Covid-19 vaccine, which was developed with Oxford University, were authorized for emergency use, it would add at least 300 million doses to the continent´s attempts to limit its deadly winter surge in Covid-19 infections. The EU has preordered 300 million doses with an option for another 100 million, and AstraZeneca has said it will manufacture up to three billion doses of its vaccine this year, which will be crucial in the effort to get doses administered in poorer countries.