Sanofi to Pay More Than $475 Million in mRNA Vaccine Development

Sanofi said it plans to spend more than $475 million annually to develop messenger-RNA (mRNA) vaccines for use against a variety of infectious diseases — and expects to have at least six vaccine candidates within four years.

“While mRNA won’t be the solution for every infectious disease, its translation into routine prevention could have immense impact for many unmet public health needs,” said Thomas Triomphe, executive vice president and head of Sanofi’s vaccines unit.

Sanofi has already partnered with Lexington, Mass.-based Translate Bio on one mRNA vaccine candidate that uses the same technology as the highly successful Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines. And the companies launched a phase 1/2 trial for it in mid-March.