Pfizer, BioNTech snare $1.95B deal with U.S. government for COVID-19 vaccine

The Trump administration's Warp Speed initiative has placed its biggest bet yet on an accelerated COVID-19 vaccine—and Pfizer and BioNTech are the lucky recipients.

The vaccine partners landed an initial order from the U.S government for 100 million doses of their mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine at the eye-popping price tag of $1.95 billion, they said in a joint release Wednesday.

The enormous order is the single largest pledge so far from the Trump administration's Warp Speed initiative to rapidly develop and distribute effective vaccines for COVID-19.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS') Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) will collect the first 100 million doses following an FDA approval or emergency authorization, Pfizer said. The government will then have the option of ordering an additional 500 million doses in the future at an undetermined cost.

BARDA and the Trump administration will distribute Pfizer's vaccine for free to U.S. patients—although taxpayers will ultimately foot the bill.

The supply pact puts hard numbers to Pfizer and BioNTech's agreement with HHS and the U.S. Department of Defense to supply up to 300 million doses of their vaccine stateside by the end of 2021. The partners have stated their goal of producing 100 million vaccine doses by the end of 2020 and 1.3 billion doses total by the end of 2021.