Pfizer is about to reach an agreement with the U.S. government to supply at least tens of millions of additional doses of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate next year in exchange for a government directive that gives it better access. to manufacturing supplies, the New York Times reported. Tuesday.
An agreement could be announced as early as Wednesday, the newspaper reported, citing people familiar with the discussions.
Pfizer did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.
Pfizer and its partner BioNTech SE, as well as rival Modern Inc., recently won U.S. emergency use authorization for their respective vaccine candidates.
The U.S. government has signed an agreement with Pfizer for 100 million doses of its vaccine, which has begun to roll out across the country.
The government is requesting an additional 100 million doses from Pfizer from April to June, according to the NYT report.
In return, the agreement calls on the government to invoke the Defense Production Act to give Pfizer better access to about nine specialty products it needs to make the vaccine, according to the report.
© 2020 Thomson / Reuters. All rights reserved.