Astrazeneca is withdrawing its vaccine from the global market

LThe group reports a “surplus of updated vaccines” in the face of different virus variants and “a drop in demand for Vaxzevria, which is no longer manufactured or distributed,” in a press release.

“AstraZeneca has therefore taken the decision to initiate the withdrawal of the marketing authorization for Vaxzevria in Europe,” according to the press release.

The European Medicines Agency, EMA, wrote on its website on Tuesday that the authorization to sell Vaxzevrija was withdrawn “at the request of the marketing authorization holder”, that is, the pharmaceutical laboratory.

The group will also “work with other regulators around the world to trigger the withdrawal of the marketing authorization for Vaxzevria where there is no expected future demand for the vaccine”.

In its press release, Astrazeneca said it wanted to “close this chapter”.

“We are incredibly proud of the role that Vaxzevria played in ending the pandemic,” added the press release, which stated that “according to independent estimates, more than 6.5 million lives were saved by the serum in its first year of ‘use’ alone, “and more than three billion doses have been distributed worldwide”.