Johnson & Johnson in Talks with EU for Sale of COVID-19 Vaccine Under Development

Johnson & Johnson (New Brunswick, NJ, USA) is in advanced discussions with the European Commission to reserve or make an up-front purchase of its COVID-19 vaccine under development, according to a report by Reuters.

The European Union executive has been mandated by the 27 EU national governments to use an emergency fund of more than USD 2.3 billion to enter into deals with up to six vaccine producers. Last week, Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands had announced that that they had acquired 400 million potential COVID-19 vaccine doses from AstraZeneca which is collaborating with Oxford University to develop the vaccine. AstraZeneca has also entered into an agreement to supply potential COVID-19 vaccine doses to the US.

Now, a top health official from an EU member state has told Reuters that the Commission’s deal was “in the pipeline” for Johnson & Johnson’s experimental COVID-19 vaccine which is set to enter human trials in July. There was no mention of whether the EU was looking to make an advance purchase of the vaccine currently being tested or buy it. Johnson & Johnson responded to Reuters’ queries by stating that the company was in discussions with several governments and organizations globally even as it is developing a COVID-19 vaccine.

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