Fourth covid-19 vaccine deal signed for 60m doses
GSK-Sanofi vaccine
A fourth coronavirus vaccine deal has been signed by the UK government, securing up to 60 million doses of an experimental treatment being developed by GSK and Sanofi.
The government has already signed up for 100 million doses of the Oxford University vaccine being developed by AstraZeneca and another 90 million doses of two other promising vaccines although nobody is certain which if any of the vaccines may work.
The latest vaccine developed by Sanofi in collaboration with GSK is based on the recombinant protein-based technology used by Sanofi to produce a flu vaccine, as well as GSK’s established pandemic technology. The Sanofi and GSK trials if successful expected to get regulatory approval by the first half of 2021 and are scaling up manufacturing to produce up to one billion doses a year.
Sanofi CEO Paul Hudson sparked a row in May by saying the US government had “ the right to the largest pre-order because it has invested in taking the risk”, but soon changed his view after then French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe responded by saying access for all was “non-negotiable”.
GSK and Sanofi stressed that they were “ committed to making the vaccine available globally.”
Roger Connor, president of GSK Vaccines said “ We thank the government for confirmation of purchasing intent, which supports the significant investment we are already making as a company to scale up development and production of this vaccine”.
Alok Sharma UK Business Secretary said,” it is important that we secure early access to a diverse range of promising vaccine candidates, like GSK and Sanofi to increase our chances of finding one that works, so we can protect the public and save lives.”
Kate Bingham, chairwoman of the UK government’s Vaccines Taskforce said: ”This diversity of vaccine types is important because we do not yet know which, if any, of the different types of the vaccine will prove to generate a safe and protective response to Covid-19. Whilst this agreement is very good news, we must not be complacent or over-optimistic.”
The £500million will be paid in stages as the vaccine progresses through clinical trials and final payment will be made on delivery.
The UK government is worried about getting left behind if other countries move quickly to buy up limited supplies of vaccines. Efforts to develop vaccines began immediately after Chinese scientists published genetic details of the SARS-CoV2 coronavirus in January.
Sanofi’s vaccine is based upon the spike protein that the virus uses to bind with host cells and invade them. The vaccines aim to prime the body’s immune system to bind to the protein and disable the virus before it takes hold in the body.