The European Union’s executive arm is also in talks with Johnson & Johnson and Sanofi for their vaccines under development, and agreed last week an advanced purchase deal with AstraZeneca for at least 300 million doses of the shot it is developing with Oxford University, Reuters reports.
“Each round of talks that we conclude with the pharmaceutical industry brings us closer to beating this virus. We will soon have an agreement with CureVac,” the EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said, confirming a Reuters report in July.
The EU will now begin negotiating a contract with CureVac, which could be the company’s first bilateral supply deal, aimed at securing the vaccine for all 27 EU member states should the shot prove safe and effective.
CureVac said on Thursday the talks included an option to supply 180 million additional doses.
The company’s shares rose almost 8% in premarket trade on Thursday, having soared as much as 222% after its Nasdaq debut last Friday, the first by a company developing a COVID-19 vaccine.
