The European Commission has reached an initial agreement to pay less than the US for Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine, according to a European official quoted by Reuters.

The EU announced on Wednesday that it had secured up to 300 million doses.

The experimental drug, developed by Pfizer in collaboration with Germany’s BioNTech, is at the forefront of a global vaccine race, with provisional data released Monday showing it was more than 90% effective in protecting people from the infection in a large-scale clinical trial.

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Under the terms of the agreement, 27 European countries could buy 200 million installments and have the option to buy another 100 million later.

The Union will pay less than $19.50 per installment, a senior EU official who was in negotiations with vaccine manufacturers told Reuters, adding that the price partly reflected financial support from the EU and Germany for the development of the drug.