Pfizer and BioNTech ink US govt deal for 500 million vaccine doses for poorer countries

US pharma giant Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) and German partner BioNTech (Nasdaq: BNTX) have reached agreement with the US government to provide an additional 500 million doses of their COVID-19 vaccine – trade-named Comirnaty - at a not-for-profit price for donation to low- and lower-middle-income countries and the organizations that support them.

This expanded agreement brings the total number of doses to be supplied to the US government for donation to these countries to one billion, the companies noted.

Consistent with the initial accord, the US government will allocate doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine to 92 low- and lower-middle-income countries as defined by Gavi’s COVAX Advanced Market Commitment (AMC) and the 55 member states of the African Union. Deliveries of the initial 500 million doses began in August 2021, and the total one billion doses under the expanded agreement are expected to be delivered by the end of September 2022. The current plan is to produce these doses in Pfizer’s US facilities.