European Union Files Lawsuit Against AstraZeneca Over COVID-19 Vaccine Shortfall

Last week the European Commission was weighing legal action against AstraZeneca Plc (NASDAQ: AZN) over its COVID-19 vaccine delivery delays.
Today, the Commission confirmed that it had taken legal action against the company for failing to deliver its promised supply of COVID-19 vaccines and not have a “reliable” plan to ensure timely deliveries, a spokesperson told Reuters.
“The Commission has started last Friday a legal action against AstraZeneca,” the E.U. spokesman told a news conference, noting all 27 E.U. states backed the move.
Under the contract, the company had committed to deliver 180 million vaccine doses to the E.U. in the second quarter of this year, for a total of 300 million in the period from December to June.
But AstraZeneca said in a statement on March 12 that it would aim to deliver only one-third of that by the end of June, of which about 70 million would be in the second quarter.
A week after that, the Commission sent a legal letter to the company to resolve the dispute.
“AstraZeneca has fully complied with the Advance Purchase Agreement with the European Commission and will strongly defend itself in court. We believe any litigation is without merit, and we welcome this opportunity to resolve this dispute as soon as possible,” AstraZeneca said.
Price Action: AZN shares are down 0.20% at $52.36 in market trading hours on the last check Monday.