Sanofi, a French multinational pharmaceutical company, has once again jumped into coronavirus vaccine research despite the controversy back in 2016 when the company did not hesitate to enter the research of Zika vaccine.
The company is teaming up with the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop a vaccine for preventing the infection caused by the new coronavirus, aka COVID-19.
Sanofi is collaborating with HHS’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) unit to develop a recombinant DNA vaccine that is based on prior studies conducted by Protein Sciences Corporation.
Protein Sciences is a biotech company that develops vaccines for flu and other infectious diseases. In 2017, Sanofi acquired Protein Sciences for $750 million.
On Tuesday, Sanofi executives told reporters that Protein Sciences developed a vaccine in response to the SARS outbreak in 2003.
Now, Sanofi aims to leverage that work for the new project in association with Protein Sciences to quickly develop a vaccine against COVID-19.
The recombinant flu vaccine – Flublok – developed by the Protein Sciences has been approved and was the centerpiece of the buyout.
Sanofi executives said that a potential vaccine against COVID-19 might enter the clinic in a year or two and could be used in as little as three or four years if the new coronavirus outbreak persists and the vaccine succeeds in clinical trials.
Executive vice president and vaccine chief of Sanofi, David Leow said, “Protein Sciences’ platform is well known and has a large safety database, offering advantages over unproven technologies.”
“And while small biotechs have already jumped into the novel coronavirus vaccine race, Sanofi has a global presence to conduct trials and enough manufacturing capacity to actually deliver needed doses,” he added.
Sanofi has experience in the research and development of emerging disease vaccine; however, its last venture did not go well back then in 2016 and instead led to a controversy.
The French drugmaker collaborated with the federal government to develop and potentially market a vaccine during the Zika outbreak in 2016. However, it led to a pricing controversy and the outbreak eventually diminished, which promoted the government to scale back the contract, ending the collaboration with Sanofi.
Sanofi vaccine R&D executive, John Shiver said, “Despite that situation, it was ‘not a hard decision’ to get involved in this outbreak.”
Leow said, “The company has been monitoring the crisis and is worried about the continued spread, plus a potential worsening when people in China return to work.”
Health officials are not sure how the ongoing coronavirus outbreak will pan out. Leow explained, “industry can’t carry alone all the risks” given the fact that many factors are unknown and the long-term economics are uncertain, which is why “collaborative relationships,” such as Sanofi’s collaboration with HHS, will aid in developing a vaccine.
