Sanofi and GSK have signed an agreement with Gavi, the legal administrator of the COVAX Facility, to make available 200 million doses of their COVID-19 vaccine, if approved by regulators, to the COVAX Facility.
“To address a global health crisis of this magnitude, it takes unique partnerships. The commitment we are announcing today for the COVAX Facility can help us together stand a better chance of bringing the pandemic under control,” Thomas Triomphe, executive vice president and global head of Sanofi Pasteur, said. “This moment also reflects our long-term commitment to global health and ensures our COVID-19 vaccines are affordable and accessible to those most at risk, everywhere in the world.”
COVAX, a global collaboration of governments, global health organizations, businesses, and philanthropic organizations, focuses on accelerating the development and production of COVID-19. More than 180 countries and economies recently signed onto the COVAX Facility to get timely and cost-effective access to vaccines.
“Since we started working on the development of COVID-19 vaccines, GSK has pledged to make them available to people around the world. We are proud to be working with Sanofi to make this adjuvanted recombinant protein-based vaccine available to the countries signed up to the COVAX Facility as soon as possible – this has the potential to be a significant contribution to the global fight against COVID-19,” Roger Connor, president of GSK Vaccines, said.
The COVAX Facility is designed to ensure that people in all parts of the world will get access to COVID-19 vaccines once they are available.
Sanofi and GSK initiated a Phase 1/2 study of its vaccine candidate on Sept. 3, with a total of 440 subjects enrolled. The companies anticipate the first results in early December 2020 to support a Phase 3 study before the end of the year. If all goes well, the companies plan to request regulatory approval in the first half of 2021.