German vaccine developer CureVac has secured a deal with Bayer to help gain regulatory approvals worldwide for its messenger RNA-based COVID-19 vaccine candidate, CVnCoV.

Under the agreement, Bayer will assist with clinical operations, regulatory affairs, pharmacovigilance, medical information and distribution, while CureVac will retain the European rights and Bayer will have options on the rights for nonEuropean markets.

CureVac launched a phase 2b/3 clinical trial last month to evaluate the two-dose vaccine. The trial is expected to enroll more than 35,000 participants in Europe and Latin America.

The companies said they can supply “hundreds of millions” of doses once the vaccine is approved. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.