Ireland, Germany, and the Netherlands suspend use of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine

AstraZeneca’s (LON: AZN) COVID-19 vaccine that it developed in collaboration with the University of Oxford recently came under fire after reports of blood clots in some patients. On Monday, Ireland, Germany, and the Netherlands announced to have suspended the use of the vaccine on fears of such dire such effects.

Several other countries have already made similar announcements in recent weeks. As per the Netherlands, the use of AstraZeneca’s vaccine will remain suspended for at least two weeks, as it sets out to further investigate the side effects.

Ireland, on the other hand, called it a precautionary step but refrained from disclosing when the use of the vaccine is likely to resume. In February, AstraZeneca said that its revenue jumped 11% in the fiscal fourth quarter.

WHO says AstraZeneca’s vaccine does not increase the risk of blood clots formation

According to the World Health Organisation, however, developing blood clots and the use of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine are two unrelated events. The UN Health Agency wants countries to continue vaccination as there is insufficient evidence that it increases the risk of blood clots formation.

Despite WHO’s update last week, a list of European countries has already stopped using AstraZeneca’s vaccine as a precautionary measure. In a recent announcement, Thailand also said it will freeze its planned roll-out of the aforementioned vaccine for now.  

AstraZeneca shares opened at £70 and are currently trading at £69.85 after touching a low of £69.14 in the morning session. In comparison, the stock had started the year 2021 at a higher £74.22 per share and was seen exchanging hands at a high of £79.52 per share in the last week of January. The price action should come in handy if you are interested in investing in the stock market.

Gilead Sciences to collaborate with Merck to develop a long-acting HIV treatment

In separate news from the U.S., Gilead Sciences said on Monday that it will collaborate with Merck & Co Inc. to develop a long-acting HIV treatment. The two companies intend to combine their experimental HIV drugs to test its effect on the virus that infects millions worldwide.

The therapy will be available in two versions; oral and injectable. The total profit will be distributed equally among the two companies until full-year sales of oral therapy reach £1.43 billion, and that of injectable reaches £2.51 billion.

After hitting the aforementioned milestones, 65% of the profit will go to Gilead Sciences, while Merck will take the remaining 35%.