EU likely to pay more than $10 Bn for Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine: Sources

To get hands on hundreds of millions of doses of the COVID-19 vaccine candidate developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and CureVac the European Union will probably pay more than $10 billion, according to Reuters.

The bloc has agreed to pay 15.50 euros ($18.34) which is around Rs 1359.42 for a single dose of COVID-19 vaccine candidate being developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.

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This will make the overall price of up to 3.1 billion euros ($3.7 billion) for 200 million doses, rising to 4.65 billion euros if another optional 100 million doses are purchased under the deal.

The pricing information as disclosed previously confirmed that the EU is paying less per dose than the United States for an initial supply of that vaccine. The deal includes insurance for EU countries to get compensation if the companies divert doses to the United States.

The EU has separately agreed to pay 10 euros ($11.84) which is Rs 877.90 per dose for an initial supply of 225 million doses of the vaccine candidate from CureVac.

According to the bloc struck the deal with CureVac this week to secure the supply of up to 405 million doses, of which 180 million are optional. CureVac had committed to start deliveries by the end of March.

US drugmaker Pfizer said that they and BioNTech were using a tiered pricing formula based on volume and delivery dates and that the EU deal represented the largest initial order of its vaccine candidate to date.

Pfizer and BioNTech said on Wednesday that final data showed the shot was 95% effective against COVID-19, and that they could start distributing the vaccine before Christmas.

In July, the US government agreed with Pfizer to pay $19.5 per dose (Rs 1445.98) for 100 million, with an option to buy a further 500 million under terms to be negotiated separately.

Reuters reported, “To secure the supply of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the EU has made a non-refundable down payment. The amount has not been disclosed yet.”

The agreed price of 15.50 euros per dose would only be paid by those European governments willing to buy the shot, and only if it is approved by the EU regulator as safe and effective.