Sanofi and GSK resume work on COVID-19 vaccine

Following an earlier setback in their collaboration on an adjuvanted recombinant protein-based COVID-19 vaccine program last December, France’s Sanofi (Euronext: SAN) and the UK’s GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK) are moving forward again.

Sanofi and GSK today announced today the initiation of a new Phase II study with 720 volunteers aged 18 and over to select the most appropriate antigen dosage for Phase III evaluation of their adjuvanted recombinant protein COVID-19 vaccine candidate.

“Over the past few weeks, our teams have worked to refine the antigen formulation of our recombinant-protein vaccine, based on learnings from our initial Phase I/II study,” said Thomas Triomphe, executive vice president and head of Sanofi Pasteur. “We are confident that our vaccine candidate has strong potential and we are very encouraged by the latest pre-clinical data. This new Phase II study will enable us to identify the final vaccine formulation for adults of all ages. We have demonstrated our commitment to focusing efforts and capabilities towards the global fight against the pandemic, and this new study takes us a step closer to achieving our primary goal of developing a COVID-19 vaccine with a good efficacy and safety profile,” he added.