The United States government has entered into an agreement to invest up to 2.1 billion into the development and manufacturing of the Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline experimental COVID-19 vaccine through its Operation Warp Speed.
Through the arrangement, Sanofi-GSK will provide 100 million doses of their potential vaccine against coronavirus which is expected to begin its human trials in September. The U.S. will have the option to procure up to 500 million doses while the Duo (Sanofi-GSK) is preparing to deliver 1 billion doses annually.
Earlier Britain had secured 60 million COVID vaccines from the duo which may be effective with only after two doses.
Even though the Sanofi-GSK vaccine is late in transitioning into the human trials stage, the vaccine which is developed based on technologies used in licensed vaccines: the platform behind Sanofi’s Flublok flu shot, and a compound made by GSK, called an adjuvant, could make it easier to achieve certification for extensive use.
“The portfolio of vaccines being assembled for Operation Warp Speed increases the odds that we will have at least one safe, effective vaccine as soon as the end of this year,” Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said in a statement released by the companies. “Today’s investment supports the Sanofi and GSK adjuvanted product all the way through clinical trials and manufacturing, with the potential to bring hundreds of millions of safe and effective doses to the American people.”
America’s Operation Warp Speed have had several other agreements too with other vaccine manufacturers to ensure the availability of vaccine from most of the leading vaccine makers who are at the forefront of human trials. The initiative invested $1.2 billion in the vaccine being developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford and secured 300 million doses. Other investments include $1.6 billion in the Novavax vaccine to receive 100 million doses and a $1.95 billion worth agreement the German biotechnology firm BioNTech and the drug giant Pfizer for 100 million doses of the vaccine.
