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The European Union (EU) is negotiating advance purchases of possible vaccines against COVID-19 developed by the pharmaceutical companies Moderna, Sanofi and Johnson & Johnson, and by biotech firms BioNtech and CureVac, two sources told Reuters.
The talks come after four EU states reached an agreement with AstraZeneca in June for the advance purchase of 400 million doses of its potential vaccine against COVID-19, which in principle will be available to all the nations of the block.
Information on the current negotiations was shared by the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, with Health ministers at a meeting in Berlin on Thursday, the sources said.
The multiple talks confirm the proactive position of the EU to secure doses of potential vaccines and treatments, after the early actions of the United States to access promising therapies and immunization formulas.
“We are in negotiations with several companies to have access to possible vaccines for the COVID-19A spokesman for the European Commission told Reuters on Friday, declining to comment on the specific firms, as the deals are confidential.
More than 150 potential vaccines are being developed worldwide to try to stop the pandemic.
Of the 23 vaccines that are in human clinical trials, at least three are in the final phase of the studies, including candidates from the Sinopharm, Sinovac Biotech firms, and the formula jointly developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford.
The most advanced discussions in the EU appear to be taking place with Johnson & Johnson and Sanofi, confirming a Reuters report last month, as the bloc is willing to discuss the number of doses needed.
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