Sanofi To Support US Manufacturing of Moderna’s COVID-19 Vaccine
Sanofi has entered into an agreement with Moderna, a biopharmaceutical company developing messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics and vaccines, to provide fill–finish sterile manufacturing services and supply packaging for Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine in the US.
Sanofi will use its infrastructure and manufacturing expertise at its site in Ridgefield, New Jersey to perform fill–finish manufacturing of up to 200 million doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine starting in September 2021.
The new pact with Moderna marks Sanofi’s third commitment to provide manufacturing support for COVID-19 vaccines. In January (January 2021), Sanofi announced an agreement to provide support to Pfizer’s and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine for 125 million doses for the European Union. In February (February 2021), Sanofi announced one of its manufacturing sites in France would support production of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine at a rate of approximately 12 million doses per month.
Sanofi advances its own COVID-19 vaccines
Sanofi is also advancing its own COVID-19 vaccines. It collaborating with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) on a COVID-19 vaccine candidate using the same recombinant protein-based manufacturing technology as one of Sanofi’s seasonal influenza vaccines combined with GSK’s adjuvant platform.
In February (February 2021), Sanofi and GSK initiated a new Phase II study with an improved antigen formulation, with results expected in the second quarter of 2021. The vaccine is anticipated to be available in fourth quarter of 2021 pending Phase III outcomes and regulatory authorizations.
In addition to the recombinant protein-based vaccine in collaboration with GSK, Sanofi is developing a mRNA vaccine in partnership with Translate Bio, a clinical-stage mRNA therapeutics company. In March (March 2021), Sanofi and Translate Bio initiated a Phase I/II clinical trial of their mRNA COVID-19 vaccine candidate in order to assess safety, immune response and reactogenicity.
