On Jul. 31, 2020, Sanofi and GSK announced advanced discussions, with the European Commission for the supply of up to 300 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccine candidate was based on the recombinant protein-based technology used by Sanofi to produce an influenza vaccine, and GSK’s established adjuvant technology. The doses would be manufactured in European countries including France, Belgium, Germany and Italy. This marks a key milestone in protecting and serving the European population against COVID-19.

Sanofi is leading the clinical development and registration of the COVID-19 vaccine and expects a Phase 1/ 2 study to start in September, followed by a Phase 3 study by the end of 2020. If data are positive, regulatory approval could be achieved by the first half of 2021. In parallel, Sanofi and GSK are scaling up manufacturing of the antigen and adjuvant to produce up to one billion doses per year overall.

Sanofi and GSK recently signed agreements with the United States where they have longstanding partnerships with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, and also with the UK Government. The partners plan to provide a significant portion of total worldwide available supply capacity in 2021/22 to the global initiative “Access to COVID‐19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator,” a global collaboration of leaders of governments, global health organizations, businesses and philanthropies to accelerate development, production, and equitable access to COVID-19 tests, treatments, and vaccines.