Pfizer and BioNTech to Supply Japan with 120 Million Doses of Their BNT162 mRNA-Based Vaccine Candidate

• Supply of 120 million doses to be provided in the first half of 2021, subject to regulatory approval
  
  
• Agreement is part of Pfizer’s and BioNTech’s global commitment to help address the pandemic
  
  
• Pfizer and BioNTech began a Phase 2b/3 safety and efficacy trial and remain on track to seek regulatory review as early as October 2020, and manufacture globally up to 100 million doses by the end of 2020 and approximately 1.3 billion doses by the end of 2021

NEW YORK and MAINZ, Germany, July 31, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) and BioNTech SE (Nasdaq: BNTX) today announced an agreement with the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) in Japan to supply 120 million doses of their BNT162 mRNA-based vaccine candidate against SARS-CoV-2, subject to clinical success and regulatory approval, beginning in 2021. 

Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed, but the terms were based on the timing of delivery and the volume of doses. As requested by the Government of Japan, deliveries of the vaccine candidate are planned for the first half of 2021.

“We are deeply honored to work with the Japanese government and to marshal our scientific and manufacturing resources toward our shared goal of bringing millions of doses of a potential COVID-19 vaccine to the Japanese people as quickly as possible,” said Albert Bourla, Chairman and CEO, Pfizer. “In the face of this global health crisis, Pfizer’s purpose – breakthroughs that change patients’ lives – has taken on an even greater urgency. Under these difficult circumstances, we are proud to help support Japan in its steadfast determination to bring the world together at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, in a celebration of solidarity, friendship and the power of sport as a global force for good. Our hope is that, subject to clinical and regulatory success, our potential vaccine will help make this happen.”

“In bringing the world together at one place, for centuries, the Olympic Games have been a symbol of a global community. As a renewed version of that very spirit, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics may become a symbol for all of us for how all nations around the world can overcome a global pandemic threat together. We are proud and honored that our vaccine candidate may contribute to the efforts undertaken by the government of Japan to turn this vision into reality,” said Ugur Sahin, M.D., CEO and Co-founder of BioNTech.