Healthcare company Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ ) said on Thursday that its Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies will supply 200m doses of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate as well as provide the option of securing up to additional 200m doses to EU member states under an Advance Purchase Agreement with the European Commission (EC), acting on behalf of the member states of the EU.

In conjunction, the company is in negotiations with its stakeholders, national governments and global organizations to make this vaccine candidate accessible globally, given the vaccine's good safety profile and receives approval or authorization from regulators.

Under a broader commitment to the COVID-19 pandemic, the company plans to allocate up to 500m doses of vaccine towards international efforts to ensure access to lower-income countries, with delivery starting mid-next year after approval or clearance by regulators.

The company is developing and testing Janssen's COVID-19 vaccine candidate under its rigorous ethical standards for safety and sound scientific principles. It is evaluating a single-dose regimen in its large-scale, central, multi-country phase 3 trial (ENSEMBLE) that began in September. A second phase 3 study with a two-dose regimen is scheduled to begin later this year. The vaccine uses Janssen's ADVAC technology, which was used to develop EC approved Ebola vaccine and is the foundation for its HIV, RSV and Zika vaccine candidates.