Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline, two of the world’s biggest vaccine players, may be competitors in some contexts, but the COVID-19 pandemic has spawned a unique partnership between the companies.
In an unprecedented tie-up unveiled Tuesday, the companies are joining together to work on a potential COVID-19 vaccine. They aim to enter human testing in the second half of 2020 and if all goes well, to be ready to file for potential approvals by the second half of 2021.
The companies have already signed a letter of intent and will utilize tech from each other for the potential shot. Sanofi its chipping in an S-protein COVID-19 antigen based on recombinant DNA tech, while GSK is contributing its “proven pandemic adjuvant technology,” according to a release.
Adjuvants allow vaccines to protect recipients with less vaccine protein per dose, meaning manufacturers can make more doses to ultimately protect more people. That’s a critical factor during an evolving pandemic, where a successful vaccine would need to be deployed quickly and widely.
Amid the “unprecedented global health crisis, it is clear that no one company can go it alone,” Sanofi CEO Paul Hudson said in a statement.
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To get their work started, the companies have created a joint task force co-chaired by Sanofi’s vaccine chief David Loew and GSK’s vaccine head Roger Connor. While the partners haven’t yet ironed out all the details, they’ve entered a Material Transfer Agreement to allow the work to proceed. The partners expect to finalize the details of the agreement “over the next few weeks.”
They’re certain about at least one thing, though. Sanofi and GSK say they are prioritizing access and have committed to making the potential vaccine “affordable to the public and through mechanisms that offer fair access for people in all countries,” Sanofi’s release said.
“By combining our scientific expertise, technologies and capabilities, we believe that we can help accelerate the global effort to develop a vaccine to protect as many people as possible from COVID-19,” GSK CEO Emma Walmsley said in a statement.
Before the collaboration announcement, Sanofi was already in two COVID-19 vaccine partnerships—one with the federal government and another with Translate Bio focusing on mRNA vaccines. GlaxoSmithKline was allowing its adjuvant tech to be utilized by various researchers.
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Aside from the two partners, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson are also pressing ahead with their own aggressive COVID-19 vaccine efforts. Numerous smaller biotechs and academic teams are involved in COVID-19 vaccine R&D, as well.
Over the span of several months, the pandemic has swept through the globe, causing 1.7 million illnesses and 116,000 deaths as of Monday afternoon.
