The European Commission, acting on behalf of the European Union member states, has approved an advanced purchase agreement for 200 million doses of J&J’s COVID-19 vaccine.

The potential COVID-19 vaccine candidate will become available to EU member states following its approval or authorisation from regulators. In addition to the initial doses, EU member states also have the option to secure up to 200 million extra doses.

The contract follows the conclusion of exploratory talks with the commission – J&J added that it is in ongoing discussions with other stakeholders, including national governments and global organisations, to supply further doses of the vaccine.

J&J has also announced plans to allocate up to 500 million vaccine doses towards international efforts to ensure access for lower income countries, with delivery set to begin mid 2021 depending on approval or authorisation from regulators.

J&J’s COVID-19 vaccine is currently being evaluated in a single dose regimen in the large-scale, pivotal, multi-country phase III ENSEMBLE trial. A second phase III study with a two-dose regimen is due to begin later this year.

“The COVID-19 pandemic continues to threaten communities worldwide and we have a

responsibility to ensure access to our COVID-19 vaccine as soon as we can,” said Paul Stoffels, vice chairman of the executive committee and chief scientific officer, Johnson & Johnson.

“We appreciate the Commission’s and the Member States’ support for our COVID-19 vaccine candidate and development efforts,” he added.