The European Union could pay more than $10 billion to secure hundreds of millions of doses of the vaccine candidate being developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.
The European bloc has agreed to pay 15.50 euros ($18.34 U.S.) per dose for the Covid-19 vaccine candidate being developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, according to media reports. That would mean an overall price of up to 3.1 billion euros ($3.7 billion U.S.) for 200 million doses, rising to 4.65 billion euros if another optional 100 million doses are purchased under the deal with Pfizer.
The pricing information, previously undisclosed, confirms that the European Union is paying less per dose than the United States for an initial supply of the vaccine. The deal with Pfizer includes an insurance for European Union countries to get compensation if the company diverts doses to the United States.
Pfizer said it is using a tiered pricing formula based on volume and delivery dates and that the European Union deal represents the largest initial order for its vaccine candidate to date.
The European Union has separately agreed to pay 10 euros ($11.84 U.S.) per dose for an initial supply of 225 million doses of the vaccine candidate from CureVac, a discount from the 12 euros the company set as the price for the shot.