Following public spats with Hungary and Poland, Pfizer and its German mRNA partner BioNTech have kicked off legal proceedings against Romania. The lawsuit marks the latest move in Pfizer’s campaign to press countries to honor COVID-19 vaccine contracts inked by the European Commission in May 2021.
Citing a “prolonged contractual breach,” plus continued discussions in “good faith” between the companies and the country, Pfizer confirmed Friday that it’s made the “difficult decision” to sue Romania.
Pfizer and BioNTech want to hold Romania to its commitments for COVID-19 vaccine orders placed by the country’s government, a Pfizer spokesperson confirmed via email.
“Pfizer and BioNTech believe it is important that all parties respect their contractual obligations under the agreement that has facilitated the successful European pandemic response,” the spokesperson said, adding that Pfizer and BioNTech are continuing to support that response by delivering vaccine doses in line with previously struck contractual agreements.
Specifically, Romania has backed out of orders for some 28 million Comirnaty doses worth around €550 million, local news outlet Romania-Insider reports.
Pfizer and BioNTech did not explicitly confirm the size of the order or the value of the deal.
Romania’s health minister, meanwhile, has argued there’s no legal ground for penalties claimed in the case since the country refused to sign an amendment to its original deal with Pfizer-BioNTech, according to Romania-Insider.
Romania will try to coordinate a defense with Poland, which has also found itself in Pfizer’s crosshairs.
Late last year, Pfizer took both Poland and Hungary to court over similar contract breach allegations.
With Poland, Pfizer asserts the country failed to pay for some 60 million doses of the company’s BioNTech-partnered vaccine, seeking roughly €1.38 billion in compensation, the Central European Times reported at the time.
Pfizer and BioNTech confirmed the initiation of a similar lawsuit against Hungary in December.
Pfizer and BioNTech sealed their large European Union supply deal in May 2021, pledging an initial 900 million doses to be delivered in 2022 and 2023. Europe also had an option to order 900 million more doses in the future. In December 2021, European officials exercised part of the option and agreed to lock down another 200 million doses.
In May of last year, Pfizer and BioNTech tweaked their delivery contract with the EU to account for slipping shot demand, ultimately reducing purchases of their vaccine Comirnaty by around 35%.
Pfizer is none too pleased with the current European shot imbroglio.
“We realized that one big overhang over stock performance is the COVID uncertainty,” Pfizer’s CEO Albert Bourla said last week at the 42nd annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco.
“We had multi-billion-dollar contracts with multiple governments in the world, but suddenly, although they were signed, they had second thoughts if they want to [honor] them or not because they are governments,” he said, adding that “one of the most famous of that was in EU.”