Eager to join the war against Covid now, the French laboratory Sanofi has entered into an agreement with BioNTech, through which Sanofi will provide support to the German laboratory for the production and supply of the 
its vaccine developed in collaboration with Pfizer.
Sanofi will give BioNTech access to its production lines and know-how to produce more than 5 million doses in Europe. The first batches of the vaccine will be distributed from Sanofi's production plants located in Frankfurt starting in summer 2021.
“We are well aware that the sooner vaccine doses become available, the more lives will potentially be saved. Today's agreement is an essential step that testifies to the pharmaceutical industry's desire to mobilize all its forces to fight this pandemic,” said Paul Hudson, CEO of Sanofi.
“Although vaccination campaigns have started around the world, their progress is limited by lower than expected quantities of vaccines and delays in approval due to insufficient production capacities. We have made the decision to help meet global needs and provide support to BioNTech and Pfizer to help the company produce its Covid-19 vaccine, as we have the technologies and industrial capabilities to do so.”
Sanofi plans to deliver more than 100 million doses by the end of the year, which will be destined for the European Union and therefore in part for France. Finally, contrary to some rumours, the group is not giving up on research for its own vaccine. Both programs are continuing.
Sanofi and its UK partner GSK will launch a new Phase II trial in February for the first vaccine candidate. If the data from this study is positive, a phase III study could begin in the second quarter of 2021, again with the aim of going on the market in the last quarter of this year. As for the second vaccine candidate, Sanofi plans to start a Phase I/II study in the first quarter of 2021.
