EU Agrees to Buy Potential Sanofi, GSK Covid-19 Vaccine -- Update
September 18 2020 - 8:08AM
Dow Jones News
-The European Commission has agreed to buy Sanofi and GSK's
potential Covid-19 vaccine
-EU member states will be able to purchase up to 300 million
doses of the vaccine
-Sanofi and GSK aim to have the vaccine available by the second
half of 2021
By Mauro Orru and Giulia Petroni
The European Commission said Friday that it has signed a
contract with Sanofi SA and GlaxoSmithKline PLC to secure up to 300
million doses of their potential Covid-19 vaccine.
The commission, the EU's executive arm, didn't disclose
financial details but said the contract marks the second deal the
EU has struck for the supply of vaccines against coronavirus,
following a deal it already signed with British drug maker
AstraZeneca PLC.
"Agreements with other companies will be concluded soon and
build a diversified portfolio of promising vaccines, based on
various types of technologies, increasing our chances to find an
effective remedy against the virus," European Commission President
Ursula von der Leyen said.
The commission added that it will finance part of the upfront
costs faced by the producers as part of its strategy to accelerate
the development and deployment of Covid-19 vaccines. The funding
will be considered as "a down-payment" on the vaccines that will be
purchased by member states.
Sanofi and GSK aim to have the vaccine available by the second
half of 2021, after starting a Phase 1 and 2 study in September,
with a Phase 3 study by the end of 2020.
In regards to regulatory processes, the commission said any
vaccine will have to undergo assessments by the European Medicines
Agency according to the EU market authorization procedure.
Write to Mauro Orru at mauro.orru@wsj.com and Giulia Petroni at
giulia.petroni@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 18, 2020 07:53 ET (11:53 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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