Sanofi Reports Faster Progress for COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate

Swiss drugmaker Sanofi said it has progressed faster than anticipated with a COVID-19 vaccine candidate being developed in collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).

Sanofi CEO Paul Hudson said the recombinant DNA vaccine, which is using GSK’s adjuvant, is now expected to enter a phase 1/2 study in September and could receive full approval by the first half of next year.

Hudson said Sanofi currently has the manufacturing capacity to produce up to 1 billion annual doses of the recombinant vaccine and 90 million to 360 million annual doses of a messenger RNA vaccine it is developing with Massachusetts-based Translate Bio.