BioNTech gives Sanofi access to its production facility in Frankfurt.
Photographer: Daniel Acker / Bloomberg
Photographer: Daniel Acker / Bloomberg
Sanofi agreed to provide millions of doses of BioNTech SE and Pfizer Inc.’s coronavirus vaccine in an unusual collaboration to speed up vaccination efforts.
The French drug company will give BioNTech access to a manufacturing facility in Frankfurt, which will start delivering doses this summer, Sanofi said in a statement. statement Wednesday. The deal will provide more than 125 million doses of the messenger RNA vaccine for the European Union.
Sanofi’s own attempt to develop a vaccine with another major pharmaceutical company has failed, meaning it won’t be ready in the summer as expected. The agreement will allow the region to offset some of the loss, speeding up the complex process of packaging and distributing a vaccine to be stored at ultra-cold temperatures. Such deals can be more common as a way to scale up production.
“We had a slight delay with one of our vaccine candidates and decided to use that time to mobilize our manufacturing capabilities to help with the Pfizer,” said Olivier Bogillot, head of Sanofi’s French operations. said on RTL radio. It’s the first time a drug company will work to help make a rival’s vaccine, he said.
Pfizer and BioNTech is looking for ways to increase their immunization offerings, from expanding existing plants to adding suppliers and contract manufacturers. Lonza Group AG, the Swiss company that owns the Moderna Inc. said Wednesday that it is hard at work to find ways to increase output and is willing to help other producers create treatments or shots.
Sanofi’s own Covid-19 vaccine candidate in development with GlaxoSmithKline Plc will initiate a new intermediate clinical trial in February, with the potential to enter the market in the fourth quarter, the company said. The experimental product took a hit in December, after research showed it had failed to give a strong enough response in the elderly, perhaps due to a formulation error.
Sanofi also plans to initiate early clinical trials for its own candidate messenger RNA vaccine in February or March. The share rose about 1% in the Paris trade.
– With the help of Riley Griffin and Albertina Torsoli
(Updates with comments from Sanofi CEO in fourth paragraph)