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The EU has reached an agreement to initially pay less for Pfizer’s candidate vaccine, an official source told Reuters News Agency.
The European Union has reached an agreement to initially pay less for Pfizer’s COVID-19 candidate vaccine than the United States, an EU official told Reuters News Agency when the bloc announced Wednesday that it had obtained a deal for up to 300 million doses.
The experimental drug, developed in conjunction with Germany’s BioNTech, is the pioneer in a global race to produce a vaccine, with interim data released Monday showing it was more than 90 percent effective in protecting people from COVID-19 in a large-scale clinic. judgment.
Under the EU agreement, 27 European countries could buy 200 million doses and have the option to buy another 100 million.
The bloc will pay less than $ 19.50 per injection, a senior EU official involved in talks with vaccine manufacturers told Reuters, adding that this partly reflects financial support provided by the EU and Germany for the development of the vaccine. drug.
The official requested anonymity as the terms of the agreement are confidential.
The United States agreed to pay $ 19.50 per injection for 100 million doses, a smaller volume than the EU. But he has the option to buy another 500 million on terms to be negotiated separately, and the price he will pay is unclear.
BioNTech noted this week that the size of the order would affect the price per dose in the developed world and said it would differentiate prices between countries or regions for its potential vaccine.
The EU official said the EU had agreed to a price closer to $ 20 than $ 10, but declined to give a precise figure.
Pfizer and BioNTech declined to comment on the price. A spokesman for the EU Commission, which negotiates vaccine deals on behalf of EU states, also declined to comment.
Medical staff transfer a patient suffering from COVID-19 to a plane during a transfer operation from Lille-Lesquin airport in France to Muenster airport in Germany [File: Pascal Rossignol/Reuters]
In June, the European Investment Bank, the EU’s financial arm, granted a € 100 million ($ 118 million) loan to BioNTech for the development and manufacture of its COVID-19 vaccine, followed in September by others. 375 million dollars. funding in euros from the German Ministry of Research.
“With this fourth contract, we are now consolidating an extremely strong portfolio of vaccine candidates, most of them in advanced trials,” said the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, when announcing the agreement with Pfizer.
The EU has already signed supply agreements with AstraZeneca, Sanofi and Johnson & Johnson for their experimental COVID-19 injections, and is speaking with Moderna, CureVac and Novavax to secure their vaccines.
Under EU agreements with vaccine manufacturers, the bloc offers a non-refundable advance to companies in exchange for the right to reserve doses that EU states could buy at a previously agreed price if the vaccine is approved as effective and safe by the EU. drug regulator.
The Commission did not disclose the initial payment made to Pfizer and BioNTech.
‘Do not copy and paste’ in terms of liability
Prices agreed by the EU in previous agreements with vaccine manufacturers have been influenced in part by terms of liability, which could cause large additional legal costs if inoculated people developed unexpected conditions due to treatment.
A man receives a coronavirus test distributed by the Wisconsin National Guard at the United Migrant Opportunity Services center, as cases spread across the Midwest, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. [File: Alex Wroblewski/Reuters]
When asked about the liability clauses in the Pfizer contract, which have been a bone of contention between EU negotiators and drug manufacturers, the EU official said the conditions were different from what the The EU agreed with other companies, and also different from those that Pfizer had with the US government.
There was no “copy and paste” in the liability terms of previous contracts, the official said.
French pharmacist Sanofi, who works with GlaxoSmithKline as a partner, agreed with the EU a price of about 10 euros ($ 11.8) per dose and did not obtain any disclaimer, while AstraZeneca would pay claims only up to a certain threshold if something is wrong with his vaccine for a price of 2.5 euros per dose, an official told Reuters in September.
Negative side effects after a vaccine is approved are rare, but are considered more likely in this emergency due to the unprecedented speed with which vaccines are being developed.
The United States has granted immunity from liability for COVID-19 vaccines that receive regulatory approval.
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