Pfizer Inc and partner BioNTech SE on Wednesday said they signed a US$3.2 billion deal with the US government for 105 million doses of their COVID-19 vaccine, which could be delivered as soon as later this summer.
The deal includes supplies of a vaccine adapted for the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, pending regulatory clearance, Pfizer said.
Pharmaceutical companies have been developing vaccines to target the Omicron variant, which became dominant earlier this year.
The average price per dose in the new deal is more than US$30, up from US$19.50 per dose in the US’ first contract with Pfizer.
Some of the vaccine is to be distributed in single-dose vials, which are more expensive to manufacture but reduce waste of unused shots from open vials.
“We look forward to taking delivery of these new variant-specific vaccines and working with state and local health departments, pharmacies, healthcare providers, federally qualified health centers and other partners to make them available in communities around the country this fall,” US Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Dawn O’Connell said in a statement.
Advisers to the US Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday recommended a change in the design of COVID-19 booster shots for this fall to combat more recently circulating variants of SARS-CoV-2.
The US government also has the option to purchase up to 195 million additional doses, bringing the number of potential doses to 300 million, the companies said.
The new contract should boost this year’s vaccine sales for Pfizer and BioNTech, which share profits from the shots.
Pfizer has forecast COVID-19 vaccine sales of US$32 billion this year. Analysts on average have forecast sales of about US$33.6 billion for the shots.
The US government has distributed close to 450 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in the US since it was authorized in December 2020, data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed.
More than 350 million of those doses have been administered.
Because the administration of US President Joe Biden was unable to line up more COVID-19 funding from the US Congress earlier this month, it was forced to reallocate US$10 billion of existing funds to pay for additional vaccines and treatments.
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