The European Union on Friday lost its bid to speed up deliveries of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccines, the first of its legal challenges against the drugmaker that rocked the bloc as it scrambled to shore up supplies.
The EU cannot force Anglo-Swedish drug maker AstraZeneca to supply 120m doses of Covid-19 vaccine by the end of June.
It went to court last month after the company delayed shipment of the vital vaccines, having originally committed to supply 300m doses by the same date.
However, the EU demand was not satisfied by the judge in Brussels.
But the judge did impose deadlines on AstraZeneca to supply doses to the EU over the summer or face hefty fines.
Both the EU and the pharmaceutical company talked up Friday’s court order, with Brussels saying it confirmed its position and AstraZeneca saying it welcomed the outcome.
The two-dose Oxford-AstraZeneca jab is one of the big three vaccines, along with those developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, and has by far the greatest global reach.
The judge at the Court of First Instance in Brussels ordered AstraZeneca to deliver 15m doses by 26 July, another 20m by 23 August and another 15m by 27 September, for a total of 50m doses.
If the company fails to do so, the order says, it must pay a penalty of €10 (£8.5; $12) per dose not delivered.
But the demand for 120m doses by the end of this month was not accepted.
