About 200 million doses of their coronavirus vaccine candidate will be supplied to a global inoculation scheme by drug making giants GSK and Sanofi.
Currently, the first stage of testing is being undertaken by the two companies' vaccine.
With deaths of more than 1.16 million people globally, there is yet no internationally approved treatment for Covid-19.
Because of disruption of vaccinations for other diseases due to the Covid-19 pandemic, its 2020 earnings will be at the lower end of forecasts, expects GSK.
The Covax scheme, which is backed by the World Health Organization (WHO), will get the vaccine candidates from GSK and Sanofi.
Agreements this year with AstraZeneca and Novavax have already been signed by Covax, which aims to deliver two billion vaccine doses around the world by the end of 2021. The company also targets to discourage hoarding of Covid-19 vaccines by national governments and instead focus on vaccinating high-risk people first in every country.
The plan has been joined by more than 180 countries, including China. However there are some countries including the United States that have decided to depend on their own supply deals.
During the summer, a $2.1bn deal with Washington was signed by Sanofi and GSK for the supply of more than 100 million doses of the same vaccine. The two companies expect to apply the vaccine for regulatory approval next year.
Similar agreements with the EU, the UK and Canada have also been struck by the companies.
The companies hope to get the results of the first phase of clinical trials of the vaccine candidates by December this year. The companies would move on to the later stages of the trials if the initial trial is successful.
In the race to find a vaccine, about 20 pharmaceutical companies are holding clinical trials.
The same protein as one of Sanofi's seasonal influenza vaccines is being used for development of the vaccine jointly by the UK's GSK and France's Sanofi. It will be coupled with a substance that acts as a booster to the vaccine made by GSK.
Work on another vaccine project with US company Translate Bio is also being conducted by Sanofi which will make use of messenger RNA molecules which instruct cells in the human body to make coronavirus proteins that generates an immune response to the virus.
An immune response in both young and old adults is produced by the vaccine it is developing with Oxford University, British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca said earlier this week.
Rollout of the earliest shots could start this year, said the woman in charge of procuring possible Covid-19 vaccines for the UK on Wednesday, but also added that the effectiveness of the first batch of vaccines was likely to be limited.
"If the first two vaccines, or either of them, show that they are both safe and effective, I think there is a possibility that vaccine rollout will start this side of Christmas," Kate Bingham, the chair of the UK Vaccine Taskforce, said.
"Otherwise I think it's more realistic to expect it to be early next year."
(Source:www.bbc.com)
Currently, the first stage of testing is being undertaken by the two companies' vaccine.
With deaths of more than 1.16 million people globally, there is yet no internationally approved treatment for Covid-19.
Because of disruption of vaccinations for other diseases due to the Covid-19 pandemic, its 2020 earnings will be at the lower end of forecasts, expects GSK.
The Covax scheme, which is backed by the World Health Organization (WHO), will get the vaccine candidates from GSK and Sanofi.
Agreements this year with AstraZeneca and Novavax have already been signed by Covax, which aims to deliver two billion vaccine doses around the world by the end of 2021. The company also targets to discourage hoarding of Covid-19 vaccines by national governments and instead focus on vaccinating high-risk people first in every country.
The plan has been joined by more than 180 countries, including China. However there are some countries including the United States that have decided to depend on their own supply deals.
During the summer, a $2.1bn deal with Washington was signed by Sanofi and GSK for the supply of more than 100 million doses of the same vaccine. The two companies expect to apply the vaccine for regulatory approval next year.
Similar agreements with the EU, the UK and Canada have also been struck by the companies.
The companies hope to get the results of the first phase of clinical trials of the vaccine candidates by December this year. The companies would move on to the later stages of the trials if the initial trial is successful.
In the race to find a vaccine, about 20 pharmaceutical companies are holding clinical trials.
The same protein as one of Sanofi's seasonal influenza vaccines is being used for development of the vaccine jointly by the UK's GSK and France's Sanofi. It will be coupled with a substance that acts as a booster to the vaccine made by GSK.
Work on another vaccine project with US company Translate Bio is also being conducted by Sanofi which will make use of messenger RNA molecules which instruct cells in the human body to make coronavirus proteins that generates an immune response to the virus.
An immune response in both young and old adults is produced by the vaccine it is developing with Oxford University, British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca said earlier this week.
Rollout of the earliest shots could start this year, said the woman in charge of procuring possible Covid-19 vaccines for the UK on Wednesday, but also added that the effectiveness of the first batch of vaccines was likely to be limited.
"If the first two vaccines, or either of them, show that they are both safe and effective, I think there is a possibility that vaccine rollout will start this side of Christmas," Kate Bingham, the chair of the UK Vaccine Taskforce, said.
"Otherwise I think it's more realistic to expect it to be early next year."
(Source:www.bbc.com)
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