First 100 million doses of Pfizer, BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine candidate acquired by US government

July 22, 2020

The US government has entered into an agreement to acquire the first 100 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine candidate developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, pending approval by the US Food and Drug Administration.

As pharmaceutical companies and scientists race to create the much-needed COVID-19 vaccine, the US government has promised $1.95 billion dollars for the first 100 million doses of the Pfizer and BioNTech candidate, pending approval of the vaccine by the US Food and Drug Administration.

The vaccine candidate, BNT162, is being developed as part of a program meant to rapidly find a COVID-19 vaccine. The agreement also allows the US government to get up to 500 million more doses of BNT162. If BNT162 is approved, the Department of Health and Human Services has indicated that the vaccine would be available to Americans for free.

For more on the deal, check out our sister publication Drug Topics.