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19 February 2020AmericasSarah Morgan

Sanofi partners with HHS to work on COVID-19 vaccine

Sanofi’s vaccine unit has united with the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop a vaccine for the COVID-19 virus, which has so far killed more than 2,000 people worldwide.

Sanofi Pasteur is the second pharmaceutical company to work with HHS on a potential vaccine—last week, Johnson & Johnson’s unit Janssen expanded an existing R&D agreement with the HHS as part of efforts to speed up the development of an investigational vaccine.

Earlier this month, Regeneron also announced its own expanded collaboration with HHS, focused on developing antibody treatments for COVID-19.

Sanofi will leverage its earlier work on a pre-clinical SARS vaccine candidate, which “may unlock a fast path forward for developing” a COVID-19 vaccine, according to ot the French drugmaker.

David Loew, global head of vaccines at Sanofi, said: “Addressing a global health threat such as this newest coronavirus is going to take a collaborative effort, which is why we are working with Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority to quickly advance a potential vaccine candidate.”

Sanofi will use its recombinant DNA platform to produce a 2019 novel coronavirus vaccine candidate.

“The DNA sequence encoding this antigen will be combined into the DNA of the baculovirus expression platform, the basis of Sanofi’s licensed recombinant influenza product, and used to rapidly produce large quantities of the coronavirus antigen which will be formulated to stimulate the immune system to protect against the virus,” said the press release.

Loew said the company expects to have a vaccine candidate to test in vitro within six months, according to various reports sourcing a Sanofi press briefing. It could be ready to test the vaccine in people within a year or 18 months.

Earlier this week, LSIPR reported that Zydus Cadila, an Indian drugmaker, had launched a fast track programme to develop a vaccine. Utilising multiple teams in Europe and India, Zydus will focus on two separate approaches to developing a vaccine.

Sister publication WIPR is running a live blog where you can find all the latest news on what COVID-19 means for IP.

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2 April 2020   France’s Sanofi Pasteur and US biotechnology company Translate Bio have joined the race to develop a vaccine for SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus behind COVID-19.
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15 May 2020   Sanofi is facing criticism after CEO Paul Hudson said the US was likely to have priority access on any COVID-19 vaccine produced by the French pharmaceutical company.
Americas
26 November 2020   The US Department of Health and Human Services will reveal more information regarding its licensing of IP to private companies for drug development, it has confirmed in a letter to a congressional watchdog.

More on this story

Big Pharma
2 April 2020   France’s Sanofi Pasteur and US biotechnology company Translate Bio have joined the race to develop a vaccine for SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus behind COVID-19.
Big Pharma
15 May 2020   Sanofi is facing criticism after CEO Paul Hudson said the US was likely to have priority access on any COVID-19 vaccine produced by the French pharmaceutical company.
Americas
26 November 2020   The US Department of Health and Human Services will reveal more information regarding its licensing of IP to private companies for drug development, it has confirmed in a letter to a congressional watchdog.