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BRUSSELS, Sept 18 (Reuters) - The European Union has agreed
to buy a potential COVID-19 vaccine from Sanofi and
GSK in its second such deal to secure supplies, as a
deadline for signing up to the World Health Organization's
vaccine purchase programme looms.
The deal will see the French and British drugmakers, which
have teamed up to manufacture a recombinant protein-based
vaccine they hope to get approved next year, provide the EU with
up to 300 million doses, according to a tweet from European
Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides.
Friday's agreement confirms an announcement made on July 31
by the two companies and follows an earlier deal between the EU
and AstraZeneca for up to 400 million shots.
The latest deal comes on deadline day for members of the WHO
to join its COVAX scheme, which aims to buy COVID-19 vaccines
and ensure immunisations are then fairly and efficiently
distributed.
In return for the right to the doses, the European
Commission will finance part of the upfront costs faced by
vaccine producers. The vaccine doses themselves will be bought
by EU countries.
(Reporting by Phil Blenkinsop and Matthias Blamont; Editing by
Mark Potter)
