AstraZeneca sued by pension fund over alleged Covid vaccine testing flaws

The retirement scheme accused the company and its executives of “wrongful acts and omissions” and sought permission to sue on behalf of all investors who lost out as a result of the share price fall. 

Pascal Soriot, Astra’s chief executive, told Italian newspaper La Repubblica on Tuesday that the company’s partners at Oxford University had “said it was not ethical to vaccinate old people until they had enough safety data in younger people”.

“Other companies took this risk, went ahead and vaccinated older people faster or earlier,” he said. 

“But we have strong data showing very strong antibody production against the virus in the elderly, similar to what we see in younger people,” he added.

AstraZeneca was contacted for comment regarding the lawsuit.