BioNTech has announced Wednesday that the European Union will buy an additional 200 million doses of coronavirus vaccine from the company, and these are planned to be delivered throughout this year.

Dr. Ugur Sahin, the co-founder of BioNTech, said they have taken additional steps together with their American partner Pfizer to significantly boost their production capacity in Europe.

-We will initiate production at our Marburg facility this month and have strengthened our manufacturing network with additional partners. We are continuing to evaluate, together with governments, authorities, and partners at all levels, how we might address an even higher future supply requirement for our vaccines- he said.

BioNTech/Pfizer’s new agreement with Brussels brings total supply to the EU to 500 million doses, with an option for an additional 100 million doses.

The new manufacturing site of BioNTech in Marburg, Germany has an annual production capacity of up to 750 million doses of coronavirus vaccine.

BioNTech/Pfizer’s mRNA-based vaccine, known as COMIRNATY, was the first coronavirus vaccine approved for use in the European Union. It also received emergency use or conditional marketing authorization in more than 45 countries, including the UK, Canada, and the US.