UK- AstraZeneca’s CEO, Pascal Soriot has announced that the company might not stay in the vaccine industry for very long.

He illustrated how swiftly things have changed for the pharmaceutical company that created one of the first COVID-19 shots but has subsequently lost ground to competitors.

The company’s COVID-19 vaccine introduction has been hindered by production delays, regulatory inquiries in response to rare reports of major side effects, and worries about its very short shelf life in comparison to other vaccinations.

As a result of widespread immunization campaigns and the preference for mRNA vaccines made popular by Pfizer and Moderna as boosters, AstraZeneca Vaccine has become less common in many affluent nations.

The US has still not approved the COVID vaccination from AstraZeneca. The London-listed company is growing its line-up of antibody treatments, which now includes treatments for COVID-19, RSV, and other viruses.

But on the future of its COVID vaccine business, Soriot said, “I can’t be sure if we’re going to be there or not.”

Soriot insisted that despite the fact that the company had collaborated with Oxford University to develop a COVID vaccine, he did not regret it given that they had distributed billions of doses and reportedly saved 6 million lives worldwide.

AstraZeneca is also looking for bolt-on acquisitions, including small and mid-sized companies specializing in oncology and cardiovascular treatments, Soriot added.

Following a time at pharma rival Roche, Soriot was given the challenge of turning around a troubled AstraZeneca that had been stung by a succession of significant patent losses and a slew of clinical trial failures in October 2012.

He narrowed the company’s focus to specialty drugs and the lucrative field of oncology and made acquisitions to stock the company’s supply of medications.

Soriot repelled a hostile takeover attempt from American pharma behemoth Pfizer and made significant investments in R&D to raise the company’s dismal success rate for drug development.

Investors have conjectured about the future of the vaccination industry given the COVID shot’s declining sales as initial sales contracts have been met, fierce competition from mRNA vaccines, and its relative lack of industry experience.

In the latter part of last year, the business established a distinct division for vaccines and antibody treatments.

Soriot insisted that despite the fact that the company had collaborated with Oxford University to develop a COVID vaccine, he did not regret it given that they had distributed billions of doses and reportedly saved 6 million lives worldwide.

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