US Orders 100 Million Doses Of Pfizer Coronavirus Vaccine

The U.S. government has placed an order of 100 million doses of coronavirus vaccine being developed and tested by pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and BioNTech, a German firm.

The announcement about the $1.95 billion deal with the U.S. with the federal government was jointly released by Pfizer and BioNTech. The press release highlighted that the U.S. government has “pre-ordered” 100 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine initially.

Phase 2 and Phase 3 clinical trial of the experimental COVID-19 vaccine by the two companies are expected to trial by the end of July. The companies are planning to file for regulatory approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by October this year.

The decision to place a pre-order for the COVID-19 vaccine has come as a part of the Trump administration’s Operation Warp Speed.

“Expanding Operation Warp Speed’s diverse portfolio by adding a vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech increases the odds that we will have a safe, effective vaccine as soon as the end of this year,” said U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar. “Depending on success in clinical trials, today’s agreement will enable the delivery of approximately 100 million doses of this vaccine to the American people.”

It is, however, not clear whether the U.S. government has already paid for the deal or will pay for it when the vaccine is approved by the FDA. Either of the two companies has not provided any clarification on the matter.

As a part of the agreement, there is a provision for the U.S. to buy another 500 million doses of the vaccine later.

America-based Pfizer and German company BioNTech are expected to collaboratively produce about 100 million doses of experimental COVID-19 vaccine by the end of 2020. As per projections, the companies may jointly produce more than 1.3 billion doses by the end of 2021.

The vaccine makers did not receive or seek any federal funding for the development of its experimental coronavirus vaccine. This is the first transaction between the U.S. government and the pharmaceutical company concerning the COVID-19 vaccine.