China Secures 100M Doses Of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine For 2021

Millions of doses of Pfizer Inc PFE and BioNTech SE’s  BNTX COVID-19 vaccine will be administered in China alongside home-made options, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.

What Happened: Local pharmaceutical firm Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical (Group) Co, Ltd SFOSF —  which signed an agreement with BioNTech in March — will pay the German company $300 million (EUR 250 million) for an initial 50 million doses, according to Bloomberg.

Pfizer’s German partner will supply no less than 100 million doses to China by 2021, Fosun informed the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, as per Bloomberg.

Meanwhile, COVID-19 vaccines made by China National Biotec Group Co and Sinovac Biotech Ltd are reportedly close to approval by drug regulators in China and 1.6 billion doses are expected to be manufactured in 2021.

Why It Matters: Since the Chinese vaccines require two doses and President Xi Jinping has also stated the country’s commitment to making available successful vaccines to the developing world, there is a need for additional vaccines, noted Bloomberg.

AstraZeneca plc AZN and its local partner will also reportedly supply the former’s vaccine to the East Asian country.

Pfizer is not involved in the deal with China even though it is a co-developer of the vaccine, as per Reuters.

The New York-based drugmaker told the United States this month it cannot provide extra doses before June as other countries have already secured supplies, the Washington Post reported.

Price Action: Pfizer shares closed almost 1.3% lower at $38.71 on Tuesday and fell 0.52% in the after-hours session. On the same day, BioNTech shares closed nearly 2.7% higher at $111.20 and rose 0.85% in the after-hours session. Fosun OTC shares closed 0.21% lower at $4.74.

See Also: Pfizer-BioNTech Gets FDA Nod For Emergency Use Of Coronavirus Vaccine; Deliveries To Begin Immediately