With demand plummeting for COVID-19 vaccinations, the EU has cut a deal with Pfizer and BioNTech to alter their contract, reducing purchases of the companies’ Comirnaty vaccine by roughly 35%, EU sources told Bloomberg.
The companies provided little information on the adjusted contract, calling it a “rephrasing of delivery doses annually through 2026,” in a release.
“The agreement includes an aggregate volume reduction, providing additional flexibility for EU Member States,” the companies wrote. “The EC [European Commission] will maintain access to future adapted COVID-19 vaccines and the ability to donate doses.”
Some member states opted out of the deal, according to a statement from the EU.
Meanwhile, the world’s other premier producer of COVID-19 vaccines, Moderna, is looking to advance sales of its mRNA shot in China, as it has established a unit called Moderna Biotech Ltd. in Shanghai, Reuters reports.
Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel visited Shanghai last month, according to the report.
The amended deal between Pfizer-BioNTech and the EU comes a year after the companies first agreed to delay shipments of jabs, with Moderna doing the same days later. As demand for shots had fallen last year, stockpiles increased causing some countries in the bloc to discard expiring doses.
Additionally, the EU has donated 526 million vaccines, including 494 million that have been delivered, the bloc said in its announcement of the new deal with Pfizer and BioNTech.
In 2021, Pfizer and BioNTech agreed to supply 900 million doses, with 450 million coming by the end of 2022 and the other 450 million to be delivered this year, the EU said.

Reference: https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/while-pfizer-biontech-agree-cut-covid-vaccine-supply-europe-moderna-sets-shop-china