THE U.S. GOVERNMENT HAS agreed to pay Pfizer and BioNTech nearly $2 billion for 100 million doses of the companies’ potential coronavirus vaccine.
The companies announced in a press release Wednesday that the U.S. placed an initial order of 100 million doses for $1.95 billion, following FDA authorization, with the chance to acquire up to 500 million additional doses.
Americans would receive the potential COVID-19 vaccination for free.
“We’ve been committed to making the impossible possible by working tirelessly to develop and produce in record time a safe and effective vaccine to help bring an end to this global health crisis,” Dr Albert Bourla, Pfizer chairman and CEO, said in the release. “We made the early decision to begin clinical work and large-scale manufacturing at our own risk to ensure that product would be available immediately if our clinical trials prove successful and an Emergency Use Authorization is granted.”
If the vaccines prove safe in further trials, the companies will begin to deliver doses to locations across the country at the government’s direction, the Department of Health and Human Services said in a press release.
Pfizer and BioNTech are developing several vaccine candidates and the Food and Drug Administration recently fast-tracked two — BNT162b1 and BNT162b2. The Fast Track designation is meant to expedite the development and review of new drugs and vaccines that “are intended to treat or prevent serious conditions that have the potential to address an unmet medical need.”
The companies expect to begin phase 2b/3 of their trials later this month and the release stated that if the ongoing studies are successful, the companies will seek Emergency Use Authorization or some form of regulatory approval in October.
They expect to manufacture up to 100 million doses of the vaccine by the end of the year and more than 1.3 billion doses by the end of 2021.
