US to pay $2.1bn to Sanofi, GSK in Covid-19 vaccine deal

Published August 1, 2020
Sanofi will receive the bulk of the proceeds from the deal. — Reuters/File
Sanofi will receive the bulk of the proceeds from the deal. — Reuters/File

WASHINGTON: The US government will pay $2.1 billion to Sanofi SA and GlaxoSmithKline for COVID-19 vaccines to cover 50 million people and to underwrite the drug makers’ testing and manufacturing, the companies said on Friday.

The award is the biggest yet from “Operation Warp Speed”, the White House initiative aimed at accelerating access to vaccines and treatments to fight Covid-19, the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

The deal, announced by the US Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Defence, works out at a cost of around $42 per person inoculated.

That is almost identical to the $40 per patient the US agreed to pay Pfizer and BioNTech SE when it inked a nearly $2 billion deal for 50 million courses of that potential vaccine last week.

The Sanofi-GSK deal is for 100 million doses, at two per person, and gives the government an option to purchase an additional 500 million doses at an unspecified price. Sanofi and GSK plan to start clinical trials for the vaccine in September.

Sanofi executive Clement Lewin said the companies had not yet agreed with the government on a specific price for the additional doses.

GSK said in a statement that more than half of the total funding will go into further development of the vaccine, including clinical trials, with the remainder used for a manufacturing ramp-up and delivery of doses.

The two companies’ inoculation is combination of a vaccine based on Sanofi’s flu shots and a complementary technology from GSK called an adjuvant, designed to improve the vaccine’s potency.

Sanofi will receive the bulk of the proceeds from the deal.

It marks the second contract for the Franco-British pair’s vaccine candidate after they agreed earlier this week to supply 60 million doses to the British government.

Reuters reported last week that Pfizer’s deal was expected to set a pricing benchmark for future deals between drugmakers and governments.

Moderna Inc and Pfizer began two 30,000-subject trials of Covid-19 vaccines on Monday that could clear the way for regulatory approval and use by the end of this year.

Published in Dawn, August 1st, 2020

Opinion

Editorial

Disregarding CCI
Updated 04 Nov, 2024

Disregarding CCI

The failure to regularly convene CCI meetings means that the process of democratic decision-making is falling apart.
Defeating TB
04 Nov, 2024

Defeating TB

CONSIDERING the fact that Pakistan has the fifth highest burden of tuberculosis in the world as per the World Health...
Ceasefire charade
Updated 04 Nov, 2024

Ceasefire charade

The US talks of peace, while simultaneously arming and funding their Israeli allies, are doomed to fail, and are little more than a charade.
Concerning measures
Updated 03 Nov, 2024

Concerning measures

The govt must seek political input and consensus on the changes it is seeking to make and be open about its intentions.
Short-lived relief?
03 Nov, 2024

Short-lived relief?

POLICYMAKERS must be jumping with joy. At the close of the first quarter of FY25, the budget posted a consolidated...
Brisk spread
03 Nov, 2024

Brisk spread

THE surge in polio cases has reached distressing levels with a tally of 45 last reported, after two cases emerged in...