By Denise Roland 

Sanofi SA and GlaxoSmithKline PLC are joining forces to develop a coronavirus vaccine in a collaboration that -- if successful -- could pump out hundreds of millions of doses by the second half of 2021.

The partnership -- a first between two major pharmaceutical companies to fight the pandemic -- brings together existing efforts at the drug giants. It will combine Sanofi's work reviving a shelved SARS vaccine with Glaxo's expertise in developing "adjuvants," or ingredients that boost the immune response to a vaccine.

The collaboration seeks to bypass a big hurdle facing the dozens of efforts under way at academic laboratories and startups: a lack of manufacturing capacity that could severely limit the number of people who could receive any vaccine.

The companies say their combined manufacturing capacity, plus the potential for an adjuvant to lower the required vaccine dose per patient, means they could quickly ramp up production if their candidate is successful. Glaxo, the biggest vaccine maker in the world by revenue, and Sanofi, the fourth largest, say they could produce hundreds of millions of doses of vaccine by the second half of next year.

"The advantages are we both have scale in manufacturing," said Glaxo Chief Executive Emma Walmsley. "These are both proven pandemic technologies whether their antigen [the protein that forms the basis of Sanofi's vaccine] or our adjuvant."

Ms. Walmlsey said Glaxo's pandemic adjuvant was able to quadruple the number of doses of vaccine it could manufacture for the H1N1 flu pandemic in 2009. Meanwhile, Sanofi's vaccine is based on technology already used in its approved flu vaccine.

Still, the challenges of developing a successful vaccine mean Glaxo and Sanofi -- like all vaccine developers -- face steep odds. Typically it takes around a decade to develop a new vaccine with fewer than one in 10 candidates proving themselves in clinical trials. So far, there are no approved vaccines or treatments for Covid-19.

"Starting with proven pandemic technologies definitely improves the odds, " said Roger Connor, who leads Glaxo's vaccines business. "The world wants to see confirmation that the challenge is being solved, but as with all research there's risk involved with this."

The companies didn't disclose the commercial terms of their partnership.

Glaxo and Sanofi lag some of the smaller players in the fight against coronavirus. Moderna Inc. is already testing its vaccine in humans and a vaccine under way at the University of Oxford is to start human trials within weeks. Glaxo and Sanofi say their vaccine should reach that stage by the second half of 2020.

Glaxo and Sanofi are also working with smaller companies to fight the virus. Glaxo is providing adjuvants to several groups, including Clover Biopharmaceuticals, a Chinese biotech developing a vaccine. Sanofi is working with Translate Bio, a U.S.-based biotech, on another potential vaccine.

The rapid spread of Covid-19 around the world means that even if Glaxo and Sanofi can develop and scale up a product quickly, they are unlikely to be able to meet global vaccine demand.

"The world is going to need multiple vaccines to deal with the scale, and some are going to fail through the development process," said Mr. Connor. "Multiple shots on goal is exactly the right approach and across technology as well."

Write to Denise Roland at Denise.Roland@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 14, 2020 10:59 ET (14:59 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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