EU to buy 110,000 monkeypox vaccines with deliveries from end of June

The European Union will sign an agreement with an undisclosed manufacturer on Tuesday for the supply of about 110,000 doses of vaccines against monkeypox to be delivered from the end of June, EU health commissioner Stella Kyriakides said.

On the sidelines of a meeting of EU health ministers in Luxembourg on Tuesday, Kyriakides said the vaccines will be bought with EU funds and delivered to EU states.

Commission officials said the name of the vaccine maker will be unveiled shortly.

The bloc’s drug regulator said this month it was in talks with Danish biotech firm Bavarian Nordic BAVA.CO over trial data that could underpin an extension of the approved use of the Imvanex shot, known as Jynneos in the United States, beyond smallpox to include monkeypox.

The U.S. regulator has approved Bavarian’s smallpox vaccine for use against monkeypox.

Some EU states, including Germany and Spain, have made their own orders for monkeypox vaccines.