TOKYO – British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca Co., Ltd. submitted on Friday an application to Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) for the manufacturing and marketing approval of its new coronavirus vaccine.
It is the second COVID-19 vaccine application in the country, following one made my U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc.
AstraZeneca, which developed the vaccine with the University of Oxford, began conducting clinical trials in Japan last August, targeting 256 participants.
The firm is set to provide 120 million doses, sufficient for 60 million people, to Japan.
AstraZeneca’s shot can be stored for six months at fridge temperatures of 2 to 8 degrees Celsius and can be administered at a clinic or hospital. - Florenda Corpuz
(Photo courtesy of AstraZeneca, University of Oxford)
