Sanofi and GSK score big with deal to supply COVID-19 vaccine to USA

Having missed out on the first round of the US Trump Administration Operation Warp Speed COVID-19 initiative awards, France’s Sanofi (Euronext: SAN) and Britain’s GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK) on Friday announced a collaboration with the US government to accelerate the development and manufacturing of a COVID-19 recombinant protein-based vaccine.

The vaccine candidate, developed by Sanofi in partnership with GSK, is based on the recombinant protein technology used by Sanofi to produce an influenza vaccine, and GSK’s established pandemic adjuvant technology.

Collaborating with the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Department of Defense will help fund the development activities and secure scale-up of Sanofi’s and GSK’s manufacturing capabilities in the USA for the recombinant protein-based, adjuvanted vaccine, resulting in a significant increase in capacity.