AstraZeneca may be done with vaccines. That’s sad but not surprising

The company did the world a solid by agreeing to offer its treatment at cost price. The world snarled back in response. Will anyone do the same in future? Doubtful

AstraZeneca might have trebled its Covid vaccine sales to $894m (£640m) in the second quarter of 2021 when compared with the first, but that’s a mere pinprick compared to what Pfizer’s is turning over.

The American group raised its full year forecast for the sales of its rival treatment to $33.5bn when it delivered its second-quarter results. By contrast to Astra’s jab, its far pricier treatment is being sold on commercial terms.

However, the Astra/Oxford vaccine might not be an AstraZeneca product for much longer. When I spoke, via email, to Shore Capital’s healthcare analyst Adam Barker on the morning of its results, he said he wasn’t convinced the company would keep the treatment.