Sanofi to Collaborate With BioNTech on Coronavirus Vaccine Production -- Update
January 27 2021 - 4:22AM
Dow Jones News
--Sanofi has agreed with BioNTech SE to support manufacture of
the latter's coronavirus vaccine
--The deal will enable supply of more than 125 million vaccine
doses in the EU
--Delays in production have hit vaccine distribution programs in
the EU
By Cecilia Butini
Sanofi SA said Wednesday that it would support Biontech SE in
manufacturing millions of doses of the Covid-19 vaccine developed
by BioNTech and Pfizer Inc., in an effort to ease the shortfall in
the European Union.
The French pharmaceutical major said it would give BioNTech
access to its production infrastructure to supply more than 125
million vaccine doses to the EU, with initial supplies coming from
Sanofi's sites in Frankfurt this summer.
As total coronavirus cases worldwide topped 100 million this
week, according to Johns Hopkins University's Covid-19 dashboard,
vaccination in the EU is lagging behind countries like the U.S. and
the U.K.
An upgrade at a distribution plant in Belgium producing Pfizer
and BioNTech's vaccine and a manufacturing issue at AstraZeneca
PLC's facilities are behind delays which could bring tens of
millions fewer vaccine doses to European states in the coming weeks
than previously announced.
The EU has agreed to purchase up to 600 million doses of the
vaccine produced by BioNTech and Pfizer.
In a virtual address at the World Economic Forum on Tuesday,
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen urged
pharmaceutical companies to honor their obligations on vaccine
delivery after the EU invested in building research capacities and
production facilities.
The agreement comes as Sanofi faces challenges in developing its
own vaccine candidates for the virus.
In February it plans to initiate a new Phase 2 study of the
recombinant protein-based vaccine that it is developing with
GlaxoSmithKline PLC, a project set back by a miscalculation in
dosing in the initial clinical trials.
The company is also developing a messenger-RNA vaccine in
partnership with Translate Bio Inc.
Write to Cecilia Butini at cecilia.butini@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 27, 2021 04:07 ET (09:07 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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