Sanofi coronavirus vaccine update: Company says the vaccine will be available for all the countries

With more than 4.5 million infected cases globally and 3 lakhs fatalities, the novel coronavirus continues to wreak havoc across the globe. Countries across the world have joined forces to contain the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. As we continue to learn more about the virus with every passing day, scientists and medical researchers are working at breakneck speed to develop a vaccine for COVID-19.

As of now, more than 100 vaccines are currently under development in different stages of clinical trials, worldwide. Out of these, 8 vaccine candidates are currently in the clinical trial phase. However, experts believe that it may take years before a COVID-19 vaccine is developed which is fit for human use.

One of the contenders of the potential COVID-19 vaccine, French pharmaceutical group Sanofi had earlier claimed in an interview with a media outlet that the “US government had the right to the largest pre-order because it’s invested in taking the risk.” However, the comments made by Sanofi chief executive Paul Hudson did not sit well with the French government.

France’s secretary economy and finance Agnes Pannier-Runacher said that it would be unacceptable that a country would get privileged access under the pretext of money reasons. Following the backlash, the French pharmaceutical company released a statement on Thursday that the vaccine will be available for all the nations.

As of now, Sanofi has two vaccine candidates in the preclinical evaluation and it has partnered with GlaxoSmithKline drugmaker (GSK) of the UK to develop the vaccine. Both the manufacturer have joined hands to develop a COVID-19 vaccine candidate as soon as possible by combining their scientific and technologies resources.

The French drugmaker expects to produce up to 600 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine in the next year and both the companies plan to start the clinical trials in the second half of 2020. The potential vaccine, if successful may be made available for the public by the fall of 2021.

The drug manufacturers have divided the task of producing the parts of the vaccine candidate within themselves. Sanofi will focus on targeting the spike protein of the novel coronavirus by developing an antigen while GSK will produce adjuvant, which helps in boosting the response of the body’s immune system and produces antibodies.

The official website of the French pharmaceutical group Sanofi elaborates that it is using an existing technology that was designed for influenza, and they are applying it to the new virus that causes COVID-19 disease.