The European Union has reached an agreement with the company AstraZeneca for the purchase of at least 300 million doses of the potential vaccine against COVID-19.
The European Commission, which is negotiating on behalf of the 27 EU member states, said the deal includes the option to buy an additional 100 million doses if the company's vaccine proves safe and effective.
The EU agreement follows an initial agreement with AstraZeneca reached in June by the Comprehensive European Vaccine Alliance (IVA), a group formed by France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands to provide vaccine doses to all member countries.
The commission did not disclose the terms of the new agreement, Reuters reports.
"This new agreement will give all EU member states the opportunity to access the vaccine supply equally," AstraZeneca said in a statement.
The EU executive said that its agreements are aimed at financing part of the costs for vaccine development.
The EU said it was in advanced talks with Johnson & Johnson and Sanofi over the past two weeks about their developing vaccines.
More than 100 potential vaccines are being developed worldwide and at least 4 of them are in the final stages of human testing.
Phase 3 testing involves millions of people and the process will take several months, according to the World Health Organization.
