British pharmaceuticals group AstraZeneca on Thursday said it had secured more than $1.0 billion from the United States to help fund production of its coronavirus vaccine.
AstraZeneca is partnering with University of Oxford to develop and distribute a vaccine being trialled in the UK. It comes amid concerns that the United States could have a vaccine before other countries thanks to its large-scale funding of pharmaceutical companies around the world.
France has slammed Paris-based drugs giant Sanofi for suggesting the US would receive its vaccine first, as world leaders demand that the science should be shared among nations.