EC Signs COVID-19 Vaccine Supply Contract With AstraZeneca

The European Commission is ramping up its efforts to obtain COVID-19 vaccines for EU member states. The commission and AstraZeneca (AZ) signed a contract yesterday for the drugmaker to supply up to 400 million COVID-19 vaccine doses for the EU.

Negotiations of the contract were announced earlier this month. Under the contract, the EU will purchase 300 million doses of AZ’s vaccine candidate AZD1222 to be distributed on a population-based and proportional basis. The contract also includes an option for the EU to purchase an additional 100 million doses.

The commission is disbursing $397 million to AZ for its efforts to boost production capacity, a commission spokesperson told FDAnews. The contract allows for vaccine doses to be donated to low- and middle-income countries, and for EU member states to re-direct vaccines to other European countries.

The announcement comes just days after the commission concluded talks with Moderna for a deal to supply up to 160 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine. The commission is also close to signing a contract with German drugmaker CureVac for 225 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate (DID, Aug. 25).

Meantime, the commission is negotiating supply deals with Johnson & Johnson and Sanofi-GlaxoSmithKline. The EU’s Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Stella Kyriakides said the commission “expects to announce additional agreements with other vaccine manufacturers very swiftly.” — Jordan Williams