Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline will receive up to $2.1 billion from the U.S. government to further develop their coronavirus vaccine and provide Americans with 100 million doses.
The U.S. has the option to purchase another 500 million doses of the vaccine if it proves safe and effective, the companies said Friday.
This is the largest award yet to a vaccine developer from the government’s Operation Warp Speed vaccine and drug accelerator.
Warp Speed: The government initiative aims to provide 300 million doses of a Covid-19 vaccine by January 2021.
Other OWS deals for vaccine doses have so far included $1.95 billion to Pfizer for 100 million doses, up to $1.2 billion to AstraZeneca for 300 million doses and other development work, and $1.6 billion to Novavax for 100 million doses.
What’s next: Sanofi and GSK expect to begin an early phase clinical trial of the vaccine in September, followed by a final, Phase III study by the end of the year. If the results are positive, the companies plan to seek approval from the Food and Drug Administration in the first half of 2021.
Sanofi and GSK are also scaling up manufacturing and plan to produce up to one billion doses per year globally.
