EU In Talks To Buy Up To 300M More Coronavirus Vaccine Doses From Pfizer-BioNTech

With the U.K. entering a third nationwide lockdown and the COVID-19 pandemic raging through the rest of Europe, vaccines approved for emergency use are in high demand.

What Happened: The European Union is negotiating with Pfizer Inc. PFE-BioNTech SE – ADR BNTX to procure an additional 100 million doses of the pair's coronavirus vaccine candidate, with an option to buy 200 million more doses, according to a Bloomberg report.

This is in addition to the 300 million doses the 27-nation block has already secured. In late December, the EU exercised an option to buy 100 million doses over and above the 200 million doses for which it had already contracted based on a Nov. 11 agreement.

The initial 300 million doses were to be delivered in 2020 and 2021.

The speculated purchase would bring the total doses the EU is acquiring from Pfizer-BioNTech to 600 million doses if the option is exercised.

This would be sufficient to vaccinate two-thirds of the EU's population based on a two-dose regimen, the Bloomberg report said.

Why It Matters: The European Union has so far approved Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccine candidate for emergency use only.

Moderna Inc's MRNA application for conditional approval is pending before the European Medicines Agency's Committee For Medicinal Products For Human Use, or CHMP.

After initiating discussions on the application Monday, a CHMP meeting ended without a decision. The committee is set to meet again Wednesday.

AstraZeneca plc AZN has yet to file a regulatory application with the EMA.

Therefore, the speculated deal with Pfizer-BioNTech assumes importance for the EU.

Pfizer shares were up 0.33% at $36.93 at last check Tuesday, while BioNTech shares were down 0.56% at $85.25.