The European Union is negotiating preliminary purchases of potential COVID-19 vaccines with Moderna, Sanofi, Johnson & Johnson, BioNtech, and CureVac, Reuters reported referring to two EU sources.

The talks follow a deal reached in June by four EU states with AstraZeneca to pre-purchase 400 million doses of its potential COVID-19 vaccine.

According to the sources, the information on the ongoing talks was shared by the European Commission, the EU executive arm, with EU health ministers at a meeting in Berlin Thursday.

Numerous talks confirm a more assertive EU stance on the procurement of potential COVID-19 vaccines and drugs following Washington's moves to secure promising treatments and vaccines.

“We are in talk with several companies on possible COVID-19 vaccines,” a spokesman for the EU Commission told Reuters.

Over 150 possible vaccines are being developed and tested all over the world to try to stop the COVID-19 pandemic. Of 23 in human clinical trials, at least three are in final Phase III testing - including candidates from China’s Sinopharm and Sinovac Biotech (SVA.O) as well as AstraZeneca and Oxford University.