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The European Union has reached an agreement that allows it to pay less than the US for the COVID-19 vaccine. Therefore, according to a senior EU official involved in talks with vaccine manufacturers, the EU bloc will pay a price of less than $ 19.50 for a dose of vaccine (as in the US). The price also reflects the financial support provided by the EU and Germany in the development phase of the vaccine, reports Agerpres.
The same official, who wished to remain anonymous, said that the price agreed by the EU “is closer to 20 dollars than 10 dollars”, but declined to give an exact figure.
The European Commission has announced that it has signed a contract with the pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and BioNTech for the purchase of 300 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Under the agreement negotiated by the European Commission on behalf of the 27 member states of the EU, they will be able to buy 200 million doses, with an option for another 100 million.
This contract comes after, this Monday, the US pharmaceutical group Pfizer Inc. announced that its experimental vaccine developed in collaboration with the German company BioNTech has an efficiency of more than 90% in the prevention of the COVID-19 disease, according to initial data of a large phase 3 study.
The United States has the option to buy an additional 500 million doses of vaccine
The United States agreed to pay a price of $ 19.50 for each dose of 100 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine, an initial volume lower than that purchased by the EU. But Washington has the option to buy another 500 million doses, under the terms of a deal that will be negotiated separately, and the price it will pay is unclear.
In June, the European Investment Bank, the financial arm of the European Union, granted a loan of 100 million euros to the German company BioNTech for the development and production of a vaccine against COVID-19, which was followed in September by other financing. worth 375 million euros from the German Research Ministry.
The European Commission has also entered into vaccine supply contracts with pharmaceutical companies AstraZeneca, Sanofi and Johnson & Johnson and is continuing negotiations with Moderna, CureVac and Novavax.
Under the EU agreements with vaccine manufacturers, the EU bloc offers companies an initial non-refundable advance in exchange for the right to reserve vaccine doses that EU member states will be able to buy at a price agreed in advance. , if the vaccine is certified as effective and safe by the European Medicines Agency.
The European Commission did not disclose the initial advance it paid to Pfizer and BioNTech.
Publisher: ML
