Another vaccine contract. As anticipated yesterday by President Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission has signed an agreement with Moderna for the supply of 80 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine. The contract provides that, if the serum proves to be safe and effective, the agreement can be further extended, reaching a total of 160 million doses that Brussels will distribute to EU member states.
The contract signed today with Moderna will allow the EU to expand its portfolio of vaccines, following the agreements reached with:
AstraZeneca: 300 million doses plus 100 million additional doses;
Sanofi-Gsk: up to 300 million doses;
Pfizer-BioNTech: 200 million doses plus a purchase option for up to 100 million doses;
Janssen Pharmaceutica: 200 million doses, plus another 200 million plus supplemental doses for another 200 million people;
CureVac: 225 million doses plus an option to purchase up to an additional 180 million doses.
“We appreciate the trust the European Commission has placed in our mRNA vaccine platform by including mRNA-1273 in their vaccine portfolio,” said Stephane Bancel, CEO of Moderna. We are aware that tackling this pandemic will require a number of solutions and we are proud of the role Moderna has been able to play in this global effort."
“We have increased our production capacity outside the United States with our strategic partners, Lonza and Rovi, to be able to distribute approximately 500 million doses annually, and potentially up to one billion, starting in 2021, if approved”.
We recall that the Moderna vaccine, according to what was communicated by the company itself, has an efficacy of 94,5%, can be kept at -20 °C and remains stable for about 30 days if stored between 2 and 8 °C.
Moderna's new contract is appreciated by investors. On the Nasdaq, the stock gains 4,74% to $103,15.
The agreement between the American pharmaceutical company and the EU Commission comes on the day when, in Italy, the minister Roberto Speranza, announced that next week he will present the Italian plan for vaccines: “I will be in Parliament on December 2 to present the strategic plan for vaccines we are building - he said - Italy started working in May to promote a European initiative in the field of vaccines. It was the first engine of the initiative of the European Commission which has started to build contacts with pharmaceutical companies that are developing vaccines”.
