Pfizer and BioNTech have agreed to supply Japan with 120 million doses of their experimental coronavirus vaccine in the first half of 2021, the companies said on Friday.
The companies did not disclose the financial details of the agreement, but said terms were based on the volume of doses and the timing of the delivery.
The United States has signed a similar deal with Pfizer and BioNTech for 100 million doses for nearly $2 billion, which amounts to a $39 price tag for what is likely to be a two-dose treatment course.
There is no current vaccine for COVID-19. The disease has claimed 670,000 lives and upended economies, and there are over 150 vaccines in various stages of development against the still fast-spreading virus.
German biotech company BioNTech and U.S. drugmaker Pfizer on Monday began a large, late-stage trial of their vaccine candidate to demonstrate its efficacy.
Daiichi Sankyo is in discussions to provide supplies of a potential coronavirus vaccine being developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford for use in Japan.
Assuming clinical success of the vaccines, Pfizer and BioNtech said they were on track to seek regulatory review for the vaccine as early as October.
(Reuters)
