OREANDA-NEWS  Swedish-British AstraZeneca withdraws the Vaxzevria vaccine from COVID-19 amid an excess of new drugs on the market, the Financial Times writes, citing a company statement.

The production and supply of Vaxzevria has been discontinued. The European Medicines Agency has announced that the vaccine is no longer approved for use.

Demand for this drug has decreased with the advent of vaccines against specific varieties of coronavirus, CNBC reported, citing a statement from AstraZeneca. BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have supplanted it, the FT notes.

Vaxzevria was approved for use in the UK at the end of 2020, in the EU in 2021. In total, AstraZeneca has supplied more than 3 billion doses of this vaccine.

"We are incredibly proud of the role Vaxzevria has played in ending the global pandemic," the company said. "According to independent estimates, in the first year of use alone, it helped save more than 6.5 million lives."

AstraZeneca shares rose 1.2% in London trading on Wednesday.